Aurora Borealis
by OC'specialty
Summary: Who knew that I was an experiment. If Demetri had told me in the beginning that Aro planned to do nothing more than breed me with his guard to create a hybrid like Nessie, I would have siced Emmett on him. But then... I would have damned him. I wouldn't have given him a choice. He would have been stuck for all eternity with the true monsters. Demetri/Oc ON HIATUS.
1. Prologue

**Synopsis:** Seven years after the Cullen/Volturi confrontation, Aro decides he wants a few hybrids of his own. He sends Felix and Demetri to the Cullens to find suitable humans to mate with. However, as Demetri meets his mate, he begins to question his loyalties. When her life is threatened, he has to make a choice...

**A/N: **Alright, so the inspiration for this story comes from - quite frankly - Demetri's expression in the Volturi confrontation. He just looked so sad, like he was really disappointed in the situation, and wished that this just wasn't the case. I mean, dude, he's a Lothario, without a mate (to my knowledge) and being so, he just seems the most vulnerable guy to get a mate. But his poor expression, I just wanted to hug him :( So, I wrote this about him instead.

Let me know what you think...

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I have to admit, I've never been much of a planner. I've never considered what I want to do with my life. "Why?" one could ask. I suppose it has mostly to do with the fact that I've never really been in charge of what happens to me.

Sure, you could say that I do, to a degree, control what happens to me – I don't allow people to push and pull me around too much, and I often find myself in trouble for it – but I just kinda let life happen around me, and find out where I might fit in. I don't have too many expectations, as I have found that all my expectations are far too idealistic to fit in with what is known as 'reality'; or are just... idiotic. Though I was never really happy with the consequences, so I'll never know. Therefore, I've never really given a thought to my future. Maybe that's where I went wrong?

Perhaps I should have. If I had, then perhaps I wouldn't have found myself in the complicated situations which I have found myself in. Perhaps I should really look at what may lie in store if I do that one thing that I shouldn't? If I dare to 'open Pandora's box'. If I had, then maybe I wouldn't have found myself where I shouldn't have been, knowing things I never should know. Maybe my life would be simpler without all the secrets which I was then forced to know because to tell anyone would wind up losing more and more trust than I already had lost... not to mention putting the ones I loved in danger.

Yes, it probably would have been smarter just to leave the lid of secrets alone.

Alas, despite my I.Q., and straight-A-studentship... I'm not as smart as I look. My curiosity trumps my common sense sometimes.

And what has influenced this soliloquy? A man. What else? Or, could I even call him that? He was a hunter, and I was his prey. "Prey?" you may ask, bewildered at even the thought. Yes, for the most ridiculous reasons I had ever heard – I was nothing more than a scientific experiment. I was the lab rat, my fate mapped out from the moment he first looked into my chocolate eyes with his strangely violet colored ones. The moment he told me what he was, why he chose me. I was determined to be 'The One'... then again... life never lived up to my expectations.

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Alright, so that's how it begins... how is it so far?


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I don't own Twilight or the universe that it exists in.

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The car was packed. What with my two sisters, my brother, my cousin, and myself all squished in the back seats along with the luggage. My parents rode in front, my mom and dad chatting happily about the scenery. Whatever moved them to move to Oregon? I'll never know. From what I had gathered in the past, they hated the place. But, dad – or Ricky, as everyone outside the family called him – had gotten a job up there, and wherever Dad was, Mom followed... and us kids subsequently. You see, my dad was in the Navy for twenty years, and then moved to the Coast Guard after he walked away six months short of retirement – don't ask, its a long story and I'll be here forever. He was born in the East, and always had a hankering for the West. One problem. Where he wanted to live, there was no water.

Now what could I possibly mean by that? Well, he loved Northern Arizona, with its pine trees and snow, while you could just drive two hours south and wind up in Phoenix if you wanted. Not that I liked Phoenix, it was too hot. Nevertheless, that's where my grandparents were, so it had its perks. But, he couldn't get out of the water... so here we were... trekking... to Oregon. And, not just any part of Oregon either.

Astoria, OR: Happiest place on Earth – oh, wait, I'm sorry, that's Disneyland. No, Astoria is one of the dreariest places, I've heard, with approximately 65% of its days covered in the dense atmospheric thing known as clouds. That's right, 239 days out of 365, we are covered in the stuff. Its quite different than Jacksonville, Norfolk, or San Diego. As you can see, I've moved around a lot – perks of being a Navy Brat. I even lived in Germany and Italy for some time.

"Heather, can you pass me the map, hon?" my mom, Jodi, called from the front seat. I reached behind me, pulling out the atlas of the Western U.S.

"Meg, hand this to mom." I told my older sister who was in front of me. Lazily, she reached a hand back, grabbed the map, and passed it forward.

As I said, I have two older sisters – Meg and Erin; a brother – Kenneth; and a second cousin – Wesley. Ken and Meg are actually twins, and at nineteen are the most obnoxious siblings one could ask for. Why? Because they constantly think that they know better than anyone, and believe that the world revolves around them. Hence, they are a nuisance. Fortunately for me, I won't have to deal with them much, as they are now enrolled at Clatsop Community College: the college at Astoria. Both for their Associates, at which point they will go to Oregon State.

Now, Wes and I get along well, Mr. Happy-go-lucky in my book, who has a thing for my sister Erin – who is the oldest sister at twenty-one, is therefore the most enjoyable sibling I have. The funny thing about Erin and Wes is the fact that they are both crazy about each other, and are clueless. Hopefully their time together at Oregon State will help them out.

Now me? I am the baby of the family, at seventeen, which means that every fight with Meg involves me... or did, until I grew up enough to know when to pick my fights. Now I just fight with Ken, my immature _older _brother. Go figure that one out.

"Alright, so we are here." Mom said from the front.

"Just 'where' is 'here'?" Ken said from beside me.

Mom pointed on the map of Oregon, a little south of our destination. We had just passed Portland. Marvelous. I missed it.

"So how much farther?" I queried.

"Oh, it looks like only about another hour." mom replied happily, bringing the atlas once more to her lap to examine.

"Great, I can't wait to get out of here. My legs are cramping." Wes said, melodramatically pulling a face and gripping his leg. I giggled, as I usually did whenever Wes said or did something humorous.

Wes' parents lived in Cleveland, but when he was eighteen, he decided to come and live with us. That was six years ago, and now – as he's one of the family – he's planning on moving anywhere we do. It was really helpful when Dad was away on deployment as he kept Ken in line, Meg on her toes, me in my books, and Erin away from the guys who wanted one thing. No need to ask what it was.

I looked out the window. It was already miserable looking, the clouds blocking my view of the sun, the greenery all around almost like Norfolk except it seemed to be more in abundance with the clouds obstructing that marvelous glowing thing in the sky. Now don't get me wrong, I love overcast skies. I love rain. Living in an overcast place is like a dream come true to me... well, except I would really like to see the skies sometimes, I mean – come on. Everybody likes a sunny day.

"Whatcha readin?" Ken asked looking over my shoulder. I looked down at my book, smirking as I did so.

"Jane Eyre." I replied.

"For the – what? – fifth time?" Ken asked.

"Sixth, actually." I retorted.

Erin chuckled, from her seat in front of Wes, "You really love Brontë and Austen don't you?" she asked rhetorically.

I loved Jane Austen. What can I say, I'm a bookworm and proud of it, and Austen is a great influence on my life. However, being constantly teased for being as insensible as Marianne Dashwood was with Willoughby was perhaps the only caveat. Then, I found Jane Eyre, and instantly fell in love with it, not to mention, it was a much more intriguing story than I ever found Sense and Sensibility. I told her as much, and watched as she relayed the conversation to my mom – who was asking what we were talking about.

"Are we there yet?" Ken whined to the front. I looked over to him with absolute annoyance. He was nineteen, not nine. A smug smile spread over his face as if he knew what I was thinking.

"Wow, Ken, I was unaware that your mind stayed constant after you hit your tenth year of life. Maybe we'll have to find a babysitter when we reach Astoria, cause I'm not wasting my time." I spat back.

He narrowed his blue eyes at me, then chuckled and left me alone.

The last leg of the trip went relatively uneventful... or I should say, I thought it was uneventful as I was lost in the world of Thornfield. When we reached Astoria, Erin nudged me.

"Hey, look." she said, showing me the large building which said 'Astoria High School'. I guess that was where I was going. Brick walls which made it look like it had been there for at least fifty years, that probably wasn't true but it looked cool. The bay on the other side was actually pretty, no doubt cold so I wouldn't be going swimming. Sad, actually, I liked to swim.

I could see that there weren't very many people who lived here, based upon the fact that the school wasn't all that big. Then again, I had also researched the town to find it only about 9,000 population. Small town feel? Definitely. I couldn't imagine the mindset of the kids here. Hopefully they wouldn't be too condescending to an outsider.

I mean, lets consider. I grew up around the US, and even in Europe. I spoke Italian, from living in Sigonella; German from living Stuttgart while my dad was in Iraq; and a bit of French. I rode horses, was a bookworm, played the piano and the violin, and was able to hold a conversation with those who were older than I.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging, I'm just stating the facts. When I lived in La Jolla – where dad was stationed last – most of the students at my school were intimidated by me because of my past. My constantly answering the questions from the teacher wasn't particularly endearing to the other students who began calling me 'Hermione', and made jokes about how similar we were.

Well, what they said had its merits, I suppose. I am 5'2", with thick brown hair that I liked to keep in braids; causing my naturally straight hair to be bushy. I'm pale, with light olive-toned skin which burned rather than tanned – and my doe-like brown eyes just made it all worse because Hermione had all of the above. Add to that my snarky attitude, and you have Hermione Granger without the spells. _Verdammt. _

But this school was different, from what I had researched. 214 students total, in comparison to La Jolla High which had well over 1,000 students. Drastic change to be sure. The main question I had was 'How were these kids going to accept me?' if they were going to accept me at all.

We reached the house relatively soon, as it was only about a street or two down from the school itself, right after a Dairy Queen. Sweet. I have to say it was the most enjoyable thing that I had seen yet. The house was two stories, my favorite. Mom had already promised me that I would get my own room, which after sharing with my sisters in Base Housing and apartments, was quite an enjoyable prospect. Of course, Wes and Ken would still be bunking together, but they were boys... they seemed to like that concept.

Then again, they weren't going to be home much anyways, due to college.

"Well, are you just going to look at it from the outside, or are you actually going to get out and look around?" Erin teased from the sliding doors of the van.

Quickly, I put my book away and slipped out, walking up to the house and going in.

I couldn't contain my awe at the house, which was easily twice the size of the old one in Germany. Erin chuckled quietly beside me, finding it amusing that I was so enthralled at just the outside.

"Nice to see you like it." she whispered taking my hand and dragging me up the stairs – okay, not dragging, I went willingly. At the top were five doors, the big door on the right was obviously my parents, then down the hallway in the opposite direction were the other four. "Pick whichever you like, kiddo, I'll go see if mom wants anything." Erin told me as she then walked downstairs.

After opening each, I finally picked the far one on the right, which actually had its own set of stairs, which opened up to a renovated attic. I smiled, it was perfect. I already could see where my bookshelf would go, on the huge wall next to the staircase. My bed, I already figured out would go in the middle, near the window... etc, etc...

The windowseat, after the stairs, was the main draw to the room, and I soon found myself looking out of the window to a tree. Yes, it was truly the perfect room.

"Heather?" Wes' voice called below, a clunking sound at the landing accompanying his voice – I suppose that would have been my luggage.

"Yeah?" I called back, going down the stairs and opening the door. He looked over, smiling widely.

"It was so quiet up here," he said, "I was beginning to wonder if you weren't up here at all." I shook my head, motioning for him to follow me with the luggage. Another ten stairs up he laughed, "You know what? Ken owes me fifty bucks. I told him this would be your room." he announced with a broad smile he went back down the stairs and shouted over the banister at who I assumed was my brother. Honestly, the two of them could be so immature at times.

I could vaguely hear Kenneth's "Oh, man! I was looking forward to my $150! C'mon sis, why'd you let me down?" followed by Wes' contagious laughter. I could only shake my head. They were like brothers. Hey, maybe if Erin actually realized that Wes liked her they would be brothers.

Meg came up a minute later to find out what the hullabaloo was about, and apparently all my siblings had bet against Ken that I would pick this room. Poor guy. He doesn't know his sisters as well as he should. Pity really considering he teases me about inconsequential stuff, but when it comes to real matters he's clueless.

"Heather? Mom wants you to come downstairs and help unpack the U-Haul." Meg relayed from what I assumed was her room.

"Be right there!" I yelled back, moving my bags out of the way of the staircase so as not to trip over them when I came back in. I really was pretty clumsy. Honestly, I always had at least one bruise on me at all times, as a reminder that I should slow down and watch my footing. I mean, it must be a talent to be able to fall _up_ the stairs. Maybe I should join the circus? I can hear it now 'this girl can trip up stairs, and fall on flat surfaces twice over in under a minute. Watch now!' – that was Ken's joke.

I looked around the house as I slid down the banister. Sighing, I realized that getting here was just one part of the trip. Now came the daunting task of unpacking. I couldn't wait.

* * *

Two days later, after we had gotten most of the furniture in, our neighbors – the Watsons – came over. To say the least, they were pleasant, even though they mostly talked to my parents, and left us kids out of the entire conversation. So typical. Yet, my mom found subtle ways to bring Erin, Meg and myself into whatever subject Holly Watson threw at us. While her daughter Melissa sat to her left side, her blond hair partially shielding her eyes from my view.

"Heather, why don't you show Melissa around? That is, if its alright with you, Holly?" my mom said. I adored the woman, but sometimes she put me in some difficult situations.

"Oh that's fine!" Holly replied, "Go ahead honey. You don't mind, do you Randy?" she asked turned to her husband. He nodded swiftly, and she motioned to her daughter. Melissa stood up when I did, and followed me out of the room.

"So, uh, this is the dining room. We're getting the rest of the furniture tomorrow. And this here is the kitchen." I said, giving a tour that I wasn't too keen on.

"That's a cool painting. Kincade?" she asked, pointing to the painting of the lighthouse on the wall on the far side of the dining room.

I smirked, "No, that's a Riley." I replied, earning a curious glance from her. "My dad painted it." I answered her unanswered question.

"Oh. Your dad is an artist?"

"Its his hobby. He likes art, always has. I get it from him, and my musical talent from my mom." I replied, happy that the ice had somewhat been broken, the tension was killing me.

"You're musical then?"

"Yeah, but we had to sell our Baby Grand when we moved. Climate change, and all. The violin's gonna be a tough one as it is."

"You play both?"

"Yeah, I guess I've always been apt." I said, "How about you?"

She smiled slightly, "I play the piano, sing a bit." she answered, ducking her head as she blushed.

"Oh? What do you sing?" I asked, finding it kinda funny how our earlier roles were now reversed.

"I like operatic stuff. Classical music is my weakness." she replied.

"Mine too! Tell me, do you prefer Beethoven or Bach?" my excitement level had risen, it was obvious. I loved classical, very contrary to my old friends who liked Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.

"Bach. But Moonlight Sonata is absolutely awesome." she answered, which launched us into a debate between Handel and Haydn; Liszt and Chopin; and how I disliked Wagner while she disliked Tchaikovsky, who I liked. By the time we had reached my room, we had even discussed more modern artists like Marinelli. "Wow, this is your room?"

"Yeah, the best one in the house in my opinion."

"You're probably biased." she announced, moving over to my bookshelf. "Ooh, somebody likes Austen."

"Yeah, I have every book she ever wrote. Including some of the ones she didn't finish." I said.

Melissa took her time glancing over my collection, which was the second thing to be unpacked yesterday. "You have this?" her voice became excited as she held my copy of 'Love and Freindship' by Austen. "Its funny that she spelled everything right in all her other novels, but this one she spelled 'friendship' wrong."

"Knowing Austen, she probably did it on purpose." I replied as she giggled. "You can borrow it if you like?" I offered.

Her blue eyes looked up in surprise, "That would be awesome. You really mean it?" she asked as we heard steps on my staircase. Ken's head popped up.

"Hey, Melissa's mom is leaving." he relayed.

"Oh gosh!" Melissa exclaimed, looking at her watch, "Its getting late. I probably should go." she said, following Ken down the stairs. "So school starts Tuesday, you're seventeen right?" she asked me.

"Yeah, I'm a Junior."

"Well, I'm going to be a Senior. So, I'm going to be a year ahead. That sucks."

"Well, I'm in some advanced classes, so we might meet at least a few times?" I posed more as a question than a statement. She smiled widely.

"Sounds great. Maybe I can even pick you up Tuesday?" she asked.

I joined in her smiles, "Mom's dropping me off first day, just because it reminds her when I first went to school. Yeah, she's a reminiscent kind of person. Maybe another time?" she nodded.

"Well, welcome to Astoria, Heather. I'll see you in a couple of days." she said as she left with her mom.

Maybe moving to Astoria wasn't going to be such a bad thing after all?

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Thoughts? Reviews? Leave them below.


	3. Chapter 2

Don't own it, dont' sue me, I don't have the money to afford a good lawyer and I dislike my uncle.

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My alarm clock rang at 6:30 Tuesday morning, meaning it came quicker than I would have liked. With a sigh, I slammed down on the snooze button and ripped my covers off like a band-aid, revealing me to the cold air. Needless to say, I wanted to do nothing more than just go back to bed... but I wasn't too keen on getting an 'absent' on my report card the first day of school.

"Goodmorning, Buttercup." Wes greeted when I came down to breakfast, "How'd you sleep?"

"Marvelously." I answered through my scrambled eggs, watching the clock with an eagle eye. It would probably only take about ten minutes to get to school, but I knew I had to get there a little early to get my timetable and a map.

"Heather, you ready to go?" my mom asked from the front door, "You might want to bring your raincoat." she told me.

Nodding once, even though she couldn't see me, and chugging my orange juice, I ran up to my room to get my London Fog. What can I say, the English know all about rain, and therefore make the best rain equipment. I raced down the stairs once more, bag slung over my shoulder, and coat tied around my waist.

"Good luck!" I heard Ken shout from the kitchen. I groaned.

"She hates that phrase, Kenneth." Erin reminded him as I ran out the door.

Mom was waiting for me in our Mercury, the warm air a drastic contrast from the frigid rain. "Colder than Norfolk, isn't it?" she said, pulling out of the driveway.

"Yeah, I didn't expect that." I replied, looking around. It was all-in-all a pleasant neighborhood, most of the houses rather nice looking. We pulled into the parking lot in no time, as mom pulled up to the front.

"You have your notebooks?"

"Yeah."

"Your pencils? Pens? Textbooks?"

"Yes, yes, and uh, yes." I answered.

"Your lunch money as well?"

"Mom! This is me, I have everything I need." I chuckled, kissing her on the cheek, "I'll see you later."

"Bye, have fun!" she called as I shut the door. I smiled and waved as I got pelted by the wet rain. Very different than Norfolk, that was for sure.

When I got inside, the first thing I did was go to get my – as Meg called it – itinerary.

"Can I help you?" the woman at the desk greeted.

"Uh, right, um. My name is Heather Riley, I am enrolled here?" my voice going an octave higher with my nervousness... I've never been good with meeting new people. Why? I have no idea, I just am really shy, I guess.

The woman in the pale-blue shirt nodded, "Right, the new kid. Nice to meet you Ms. Riley. Let me get your schedule." she said with a smile, walking away.

Looking down at my outfit, I wondered if perhaps I was overdressed. I mean; slacks, a white oxford, and a red and gold cardigan might be a bit much – especially on the first day. Its strange, I never thought about my outfits before, I just hoped I wouldn't be considered as some kind of a yuppie after this.

"Heather Orena Riley, Junior, age seventeen – correct?" the woman said.

"Yeah." I answered as she came back to the desk with a highlighter.

Five minutes later I was equipped with my new schedule, as well as a map of the school and a slip to have each teacher sign. First class: History. Taking a deep breath I followed the map to the class, butterflies deciding to go to Mexico at just that moment.

"Okay, Heather, you can do this. You've done it eleven times before... five times with new schools. Just a run-of-the mill thing. Calm down." I told myself as I entered the classroom.

Looking around I didn't feel so out of place, there actually were a few girls who dressed similarly to me. One I noticed particularly had a cropped pixie haircut. Her eyes staring as if right through me. It was slightly unnerving. She was what I'd imagine Tinker Bell (if she had brown hair instead of blond) would look like. The second looked a little more normal, red-head, green eyes, a little shy. The third was simply gorgeous, with bronze hair past her waist. Wow, I felt insignificant in comparison. So, three out of twenty was a bonus – I guess you could make it four now.

I walked up to the teacher, whose name plaque on the desk said J. McBride, with a smile on my face. No need to go be impolite to the guy who was going to be in charge of my grades for the next several months.

"Have a seat, Ms. Riley." he said, his voice exposing his light-southern-twang, he motioned to a few seats which were still available. One right next to pixie girl. I gingerly sat down, fully aware of every pair of eyes in the room. 'Stop staring!' I wanted to say, but wisely kept my mouth shut as my cheeks burned crimson. I really hated my pale skin, I was only glad that my hair was down, keeping my red ears from showing their ugly... cartilage?

"Hi!" Pixie girl practically shouted in my ear. "You're new here, aren't you?"

I scoffed, a stunned look on my face, "Uh, yeah." I said kinda stupidly, I cleared my throat, trying again. "Yeah, I just got here on Friday."

Pixie girl giggled, "Well, welcome to Astoria." she said, "I'm Alice."

"Heather." I replied.

She giggled again, "Nice to meet you Heather. This is Nessie, my... niece." she said the last word uncertainly.

The girl next to her smiled and extended her hand in greeting. I shook it, shocked that anyone would talk to me, let alone these girls. I mean, seriously, I may be pretty – or at least that's what everyone told me – but they were absolutely gorgeous. I would imagine that I looked pretty _plain _next to them.

"Niece? Wow, you guys look the same age." I observed.

Alice and Nessie shared a knowing look, which I had no idea just what it meant. But hey, I just got here.

"Yeah, well, Alice is adopted." Nessie finally said, causing them both to begin giggling. I didn't know what to do, as I was not aware at just what I was giggling at.

Class began, and I was more than happy to listen to Mr. McBride query about what all the students learned last year. Recapping what I already learned. I took slight notes, in case he was anything like Mr. Prentiss from last year and caused us to do a pop-quiz first week. Quite frankly, I adored anything that had to do with history – and even more when it came to wars. He was the most informed, and easy to listen to teach that I had ever met. In my mind, he already was my favorite teacher.

The bell rang, and all the students rushed out. Alice and Nessie seemed to take their time, asking which class I had next.

"Chemistry." I replied, looking down at my schedule.

"Edward's in Chemistry." Alice commented, "He's probably just left English, we'll catch up with him and he can show you to your next class." she offered.

"I really don't want to inconvenience... Edward." I said slowly.

"Heather!" I heard behind me. I spun around, and found myself watching as an excited Melissa came toward me.

"Melissa, how's it going?" I asked as she hugged me briefly.

"Its good. Just finished Physics, what's your next one?" I told her it was chemistry. "Mr. Hood's a good teacher. You told me you had some advanced classes, which ones?"

"Hey, we have to go." Alice told me, "I'll have Edward come to show you where Chem is."

"Oh, okay, I guess I'll see you later?" I handed Melissa my schedule so that she could compare hers.

"Sure." Nessie said happily, walking away as Alice _skipped _behind. Strange pixie girl. Then again, she made the Russian Ballerina's look ungraceful as she demurely skipped along.

Melissa just stared at me as they went away.

"What?"

"You're here for an hour and you've already made friends with Alice Cullen? Wow, you must be special." she said in a teasing tone. So Cullen was their name huh? Odd name.

I was confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The Cullen's don't just talk to anybody, and Alice is one of the most admired girls in the school – well, actually Rosalie is, well no, Rosalie is the most envied. As a matter of fact, they all are. You just haven't seen the rest, then you'll understand." Melissa said, turning back to the sheets in her hand. I was lost. Rosalie? "We have Pre-Calc together, so that's awesome. I'll see you after English, is that okay?" she asked, I shrugged I was just happy to be able to talk to someone.

We were interrupted by a young man with reddish-blond hair coming up to us, a gorgeous brunette next to , what was with this school? Maybe it was the water...

"Heather Riley?" his melodic voice asked.

I was shocked momentarily, I can't recall the last time more than two people came up to me instead of the other way around. "Uh, yeah, I'm Heather." I said.

"Edward Cullen" the bronze-haired boy introduced, "Alice told me that you were the new student, and might need some help being shown around." Ah, right, Alice's brother 'Edward' who was going to take me to Chemistry. I mentally shook my head, this was going to be hard. What was with this family? Were they all this gorgeous?

Edward smiled slightly, which threw me for a loop. Why someone would smile about taking their sister's new 'acquaintance' anywhere was a mystery.

Melissa patted my shoulder, "Listen, I gotta go, I'll see you in Pre-Calc." she said, taking off not moments later.

"Oh, okay." I replied dumbly. I can't remember the last time I spoke in such stupid answers. I turned back to Edward, "Uh, yeah, she told me that you were in the same class?" I mentally berated myself. I sound like the girls back home who wanted nothing more than to be the jocks girlfriends.

"That's right." Edward replied, "She didn't want to let you down." of course, cause guys don't do anything their sisters want unless they are coerced. Men...

The girl next to Edward chuckled, making me wonder who she was.

"Sorry, this is my girlfriend, Bella." he introduced. She smiled, her almond-shaped eyes looking at me knowingly – though what she knew I wasn't sure.

"Its nice to meet you Heather." she said melodically.

"Pleasure." was all I could get out.

Bella? I'll say. I'd never met a girl as beautiful as Bella. Heart-shaped face, dark brown hair that flowed to her waist that any Pantene model would die for, almond-shaped gold eyes – woah, wait, gold? Gold eyes? Seriously? Who has gold eyes? Hazel, yes, I have seen hazel. Gold? I blinked, but the gold was still there. Thinking back I remembered that Alice had the same colored eyes. Maybe they were contacts? Contacts seem to be all the rage nowadays.

Edward smiled again and turned to Bella, saying something so low that I couldn't really hear it. She nodded and pecked him on the lips, walking away... no, not walking... gliding away. What was with these people?

"Chemistry." Edward brought my attention away from his girlfriend. I nodded quickly, and followed him to the next class.

Upon entry, I gave my teacher slip to Mrs. Hicks, for her to sign. She smiled at me, motioning to a seat near the red-head from Mr. McBride's class. I sat down, pulling my shoulder-length hair into a messy bun. The class went well, and I have to say I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, as Mrs. Hicks had a sense of humor.

The bell rang, signaling that the class was over. The red-head picked her bag up, unintentionally from the wrong side, causing the contents to spill onto the floor. I heard her swear under her breath, as she attempted to pick everything up.

"Here, let me help you." I offered, picking up her copy of Canterbury tales, and handing it to her.

"Thanks." she replied softly, putting it back in her bag and swinging it over her shoulder, "I saw you earlier, Ms. Riley. I guess I just couldn't get up the gumption to introduce myself; that, and you were occupied by the Ms. Cullens." she said, "I'm Emma Pearce."

"Heather, nice to meet you Emma." I replied brightly.

She smiled and ducked her head, "I know." she said softly, looking behind me. "I think that Mr. Cullen is waiting for you."

I turned around, and sure enough, Edward stood there waiting. "You ready to go?" he asked. I turned back toward Emma.

"Maybe we can catch up over lunch or something?" I offered. She smiled and nodded, muttering something about 'We'd see' and walked out. Edward and I followed her soon afterwards.

"Pre-Calculus right?" he asked, I nodded, he lead me a few doors down and stopped. "We're here." I smiled thanked him and walked in being greeted by the stern face of Mrs. Howe. If I knew anything, I knew I probably wouldn't like her. After handing her my slip I looked around for a familiar face.

Melissa was already waiting for me, waving me over to the empty seat next to hers. I did as instructed, not really paying attention to my feet until I found myself nearly hitting the floor after tripping over a bag strap. I quickly grasped one of the desks, preventing my inevitable disgraceful fall. I sighed in relief, happy that for once I hadn't actually fallen down. I heard a soft 'Sorry' from the table that I leaned against. I smiled at the blue-eyed boy, with a shake of my head, and continued making my way next to Melissa, I could hear a few snickers around the room.

I was beginning to wonder if my blush was permanent when I looked around the room. I couldn't help it, it seemed as if I was being watched – not that I wouldn't have expected it. I did make a dramatic entrance.

There they were, black eyes boring into my brown with a strange intensity. I looked at the owner, for a moment taken aback at his appearance. He was handsome, with light brown hair that spiked in every direction. It was almost like Alice's except more masculine. His skin was pale, much like Edward and Alice's had been. His eyes looked sorry and apologetic, then suddenly shifted to anger, causing me to snap my eyes back to the front of the classroom.

"Something wrong?" Melissa asked motioning toward my cheeks. I shook my head and focused on Pre-Calculus. As I predicted the moment I walked in, Mrs. Howe was truly the terrible teacher that I thought she would be. I thanked God that my mother had a teaching degree, I'd have to ask her later on to explain what I had learned earlier in the day.

When the bell rang, the handsome stranger stood up and left the class first. Bewildered at just who it was, I walked to lunch. Melissa had left me saying that she had a pass to leave the grounds for lunch. The cafeteria was smaller than the one at La Jolla High, but not at all unpleasant. It actually looked like the food was homemade, and that made me almost dance in excitement.

After getting a tray, I spotted Emma at a table that a few others sat at. Walking over to her, I tapped her on the shoulder. Her red hair swished around her as she looked back at me. "Hey, you came." she said, as if she was surprised.

"I told you I would." I replied, looking around the table expectantly. There were three guys, and another girl. After introducing me, she introduced them.

First, there was Chris Brennan a blond guy with sparkling green eyes behind black-rimmed glasses, and dimples. I remembered seeing him in my history class, he was probably one of the only people answering questions.

Next to him was Nicole Taylor, who had dyed black hair and blue eyes. I hadn't seen her, but it was explained that she was a sophomore, so that explained it.

Then there was Jeff Prince, he had mousy brown hair, startling blue eyes. I remembered him as the boy whose bag I had tripped over in Pre-Calc. He smiled shyly at me, a red tinge over his cheeks. He wasn't a senior, but was like me. In an advanced class for the grade.

The last was Josh Lee, as Emma introduced him 'The Korean with one of the biggest smiles in the school'. I didn't know how much of that was true, but to say the least, he did have a wide smile. It was contagious, kinda like Wes'.

I waved to them all, sitting next to Jeff, as that was where a seat was available. "Sorry about the bag strap. I thought I had tucked it in." he apologized quietly.

"No problem, Jeff, I'm just naturally clumsy. I would've found something to trip over. Its like my feet go out of their way to find something to cause me and gravity to meet again. Its like poking on facebook." I replied, earning a slight laugh out of him. He really had a cute smile.

Once again, I felt the burning hole in my back as if someone was watching me. I turned my head in the direction that I felt it, I looked only slightly to my left, and once again found the handsome stranger. Ironically enough, I saw Alice, Nessie, Edward and Bella around the same table. Alice's eyes met mine, and with a smile she nodded at me.

Around the same table, I saw three other people. The blond woman was breathtaking, even more so than Bella was, I assumed that was Rosalie based on what Melissa had said about the 'other Cullen girl'. I could now understand why she was envied. Beside her was the Hulk's better looking brother, with dimples. I mean, that guy was massive – and didn't look to be the age of a high-schooler. No, not him or the other blond guy next to Alice. They could have easily been teachers. Or better yet, models, with how they looked. Looking around the room it was quite obvious: that table was envied by everyone else.

I gently nudged Emma, nodding my head in their direction. "I know Alice, Edward, Bella, and Nessie. Who are the other people?"

Emma's hazel eyes looked their way with a smirk. "Those would be the Cullens and Hales." she said briefly, then looking at me, she realized I wanted a little more details. "Okay, the blond girl is Rosalie Hale, she's a senior; the buff guy next to her is Emmett, also a senior; the blond guy is Jasper Hale – Rosalie's twin brother – he's with Alice, you can guess what he is. The last guy is Demetri, I think he's Edward's older brother... or cousin... or something. Again a senior. I think Renesmee and Bella are sisters." she informed.

"Renesmee?"

"Nessie." Jeff supplied.

"I don't get it, how are they all one family? They're all, like, the same age." I said.

The table glanced at each other, Chris answering. "They're all adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife. Something like, she can't have kids, so to make her happy he adopted them all?" he said.

"But I think that Rosalie and Jasper are Mrs. Cullen's niece and nephew." Josh added.

I looked at the Cullen table, watching as they apparently found something funny and were sharing a laugh.

"Heres the weird thing though. They're all boyfriend/girlfriend." Nicole whispered conspiratorially.

"What?"

"Rosalie and Emmett. Bella and Edward. Alice and Jasper. Nessie's boyfriend doesn't go to school here, and Demetri is the only single guy." Nicole explained, "But he's a Lothario, I think he seduced half of the sluts in the school first year they were here." I scoffed.

"How long have they been here?" I asked.

"Uh, I think for about a year and a half." Chris said, looking at Emma. She nodded in affirmation.

"Wow, so they practically just moved here." they were outsiders, like me.

"Yeah, I think they were from Washington originally. Their dad got a better job here at the hospital, but they live pretty far out of town." Nicole said.

"Yeah, a total of fifteen miles, Nicky." Josh deadpanned.

The table was pretty silent after that, with only the questions of how it was different in Virginia than here.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted, not really caring about anything around me. Except for one thing... Demetri Cullen. Seriously, who names their kid that? I hadn't even spoken to the guy, and already I was curious about him, and why his eyes had first been pitiful, then turned angry. Why was he always watching me?

I wasn't watching myself, unfortunately, when I slipped on the stairs of the school on my way to the parking lot. Unceremoniously, my tailbone slammed into the concrete steps with a loud 'OW!' emitted from me, followed by my swearing in German. I looked across the parking lot to see Demetri and Edward by a shiny Volvo. Why wasn't I surprised?

The family car pulled up soon enough, and I was once more out of the cold weather of Astoria.

"Brrrr..." I shook like a dog.

My mom laughed, "How was your day?" she inquired.

"Went well. I just have one problem." I said, pulling out my Pre-Calculus book. "My teacher is a robot." My mom laughed again, her blue eyes glittering in merriment. She always liked hearing how miserable with any other teacher than her.

"I guess I have a long night." she pretended to moan. "Okay, hit me."

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Alright, if you guys like it so far, let me know and I'll continue. Otherwise, I'll leave it alone. Reviews?


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I don't own the Twilight Universe.

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The next morning followed the first's pattern, except that this time I was a little more prepared, which gave me a little more time to get my things together before rushing out the door. With a 'Be safe' from my mom at the school doors, I was on my way to great things. Beginning with History with Mr. McBride. Alice and Nessie were there, so I waved. To my surprise, though, they didn't bother to wave back, instead opting to look out the window and enjoy the... clouds. Wow. Maybe they figured out that I actually wasn't worth their time after all. I think my only saving grace was Emma, who had sat a little further down the rows of chairs, she waved me over to a seat that she'd spared just for me. She really was a sweet girl. I really should have known that the girl who everyone envies, is not the girl to be friends with. And seeing as the Cullens, as I saw the day before, were envied, it would be in my best interest to steer clear.

The bell rang, and we were dismissed with worksheets on the Russian Revolution, and a assignment to study ten pages of the book. The rest of the class groaned, mostly boys. I almost wanted to say 'Hey, if you get your butt off the X-Box tonight, it won't be so hard, and you might actually get a good grade on this assignment!' alas, I didn't have the nerve to actually say it. Emma and I chatted a bit longer as we walked to our next class. Fortunate for me that she was in Chemistry, as I had already forgotten which door – I was far too dazed by Edward and Bella Cullen yesterday to really pay attention to where I was going.

Mrs. Hicks welcomed me back with a huge smile which I couldn't help but reciprocate. Looking around the room, I spotted Edward easily. What was with them? The moment I walked in the door he kept his eyes trained on the worksheet in front of him, like he was purposefully trying to avoid me. He had also slung his bag on the chair next to him, so as to say 'Stay away' to the person who sat there – who, yesterday, was me. I know it was childish, but I decided that two could play that game, and purposefully ignored him as well; opting instead to sit with Emma. She didn't mind.

Yet, I still couldn't help myself but steal glances at Edward, watching as his pen moved fluently over the paper. Funny, I did the same thing with Alice in History. My mind couldn't find a happy place as I watched Edward, trying to figure out just what I had done wrong with the Cullens to exude this avoidance. Surely I wasn't that bad of company. I was new. How could someone already hate someone that was new? I rolled my eyes at myself. Says the girl who immediately hated Mrs. Howe. Maybe they were friends with her? I heard Edward lightly scoff next to me, as if something was funny, but there was nothing going on to scoff at. Mrs. Hicks continued on about the three phases of liquid.

Next was Pre-Calculus, but this time Emma couldn't accompany me, as she had Government. I nodded, and pulled out my map, after all, there was no Edward to show me the way this time. I almost wish I had gotten Melissa's phone number yesterday, I guess I just figured that she lived next door and I wouldn't have to really call her. Idiotic me. About five minutes later, I found the door from yesterday, and bracing myself to see Mrs. Howe, I walked in. Melissa was there, as she was yesterday, but apparently hadn't gotten here fast enough as someone was sitting next to her – Jeff ironically enough. I shrugged at her apologetic look of helplessness, they were my friends, if they sat next to each other I wasn't going to complain. Looking around, there was only one seat available.

"Are you having a problem finding a seat, Ms. Riley?" Mrs. Howe asked from the desk behind me. "Because there's a free seat next to Mr. Cullen." I nodded, and with a deep breath I made my way over to the handsome stranger who kept staring at me. With an embarrassed smile, I sat next to him, placing my bag strap over the back of my chair. Glancing back at Demetri, I could see a pained look on his face. What was with the Cullen's and their ethereal good looks? I mean, he was Adonis personified. Like Edward probably could have been Apollo's brother, and Rosalie maybe Aphrodite's sister. But Demetri, despite the fact that he looked like he had just undergone a very painful procedure, which would have screwed anyone's face up to look rather terrible, looked... even then... absolutely breathtaking. I was in awe. Maybe it was the water. I giggled to myself, or maybe they were related to Percy Jackson.

However, Demetri didn't look at me at all, which was kinda nice. But instead, his glare was directed at the chalkboard. Poor green chalkboard never hurt anybody, but he was glaring at it as if it were his archnemesis. Nevertheless, I ignored him, and supposedly kept my eyes on my work – though not really, as I knew that mom would explain it to me later.

Listening closely, however, I noticed that something was odd about Demetri. Namely, he wasn't breathing. I looked over at him, so as to make sure he wasn't dying or something, and was instantly confused. His shoulders moved, as if he was taking in a breath, and releasing the CO2 which came out of his lungs... but there was no sound. Maybe I was going deaf, but then I noticed another thing. The pencil that he had in his hand earlier was crushed – like, seriously crushed. Almost-powdery, crushed. No guy I had ever seen was able to do that. I went back to my notebook.

"Hello." I suddenly heard from next to me. I turned slowly, almost in disbelief that I had actually heard the Adonis speak.

"Hi." I replied, looking up at the front of the class.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier." he said smoothly. "I was in a bit of a hurry." His voice was as melodic as Alice, Bella, Edward, and Nessie combined, with a slight Italian lilt, but it mostly sound like an aristocrat from England.

"You mean yesterday?"

He laughed lightly, "Yes, sorry I didn't speak to you today either, did I?"

"It's alright." I replied, doing a mistake and looking at him. For the first time, I noticed his eyes. They were violet. Seriously, the Cullens have some kind of a fetish with contact lenses. "I didn't expect for you to introduce yourself."

"Allow me to remedy. Demetri V – Cullen." I ignored his

"Heather Riley." I responded, holding out my hand as was tradition. He stared at it a moment, then shook it. I shuddered, "You're cold."

"Yes, well, I'm originally from a much warmer climate. It causes me to be a little more subject to the cold weather of Oregon." he supplied.

"Interesting. Where are you from?" I inquired.

"Little Italy." he answered.

"You are not from Manhattan." I declared, he looked at me, an amused look on his face – though his eyes were still pained.

He chuckled, a deep – I caught myself using the word melodic a lot, so let me try another – smooth. Not as descriptive, but it was quite pleasant to hear. "No, I'm not." he finally said. "I'm from the real Italy."

"Ah" I smiled, "Benvenuti in America poi. Ho vissuto anche in Italia. Di dove sei?" I asked, watching as his violet eyes widened. This was the reaction I got whenever I spoke in anything other than English or Spanish, so it was nothing new.

"Ho vissuto in Toscana, più precisamente Pisa. Non vi dirò che città." he replied in flawless Italian. Smooth and elegant, the words flowed beautifully together, as if I were hearing a concerto. Its funny, I never would have compared a voice to a concerto before, but his baritone seemed to fit the phrase so well. "Di dove sei?" he asked me.

"I lived in Sigonella for a time." I answered in English.

"Ah, a military brat." he said.

"Si." Mrs. Howe chose at that moment to ask me a question, despite the fact that I was in the back. I suppose she wished to test my knowledge, seeing as I was new. I answered the question, correctly, and she once again left me alone. Before I knew it the bell rang, and our assignments were declared – after, of course, she insisted we did not move to pack our bags until she was finished speaking. She reminded me of my other Math teacher, Mr. Clark, maybe Math caused rigamortis to set in before its proper time?

Melissa soon grabbed my arm, taking me away from Demetri before I could even say goodbye. We began walking to the cafeteria, Jeff slightly off to her right.

"You were speaking Italian." she pointed out. I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." I deadpanned.

"How could you not notice you were speaking in Italian?" Tyson Cory, one of the other students said from behind me.

"Because that's my other personality, Lucretia." I answered so seriously that Tyson looked at me as if I was insane. Maybe I was. But then again, he seemed to have no sense of humor. Adriana, one of my old friends from San Diego, came up with my 'personalities'. Each language had one. I wonder what she'd make my new 'Spanish' personality?

But back to reality: Melissa wasn't letting it go.

"You were speaking in Italian to Demetri Cullen, Edward Cullen's brother!" she quietly shrieked... if that's possible.

I paused, "So it had nothing to do with the fact that I was speaking in Italian, but the fact that I was speaking to Demetri?" I queried. First Nicole was giving me a hard time yesterday for talking to Alice, now Melissa for Demetri? My friends were strange.

"You got him to speak, that's what I'm talking about. Most of us have tried, and failed." she said.

"I thought he seduced – in the words of Nicole – half the sluts in the school in the first year." I replied, she rolled her eyes.

"She exaggerated, and it wasn't this school." Jeff answered, "He slept with the girls at Clatsop."

My eyes had to have bugged, "The college?"

"No, the plant." Jeff replied sarcastically, "Yes the college." hey, at least one person seemed to have a sense of humor.

"So why did Nicole say that?"

"Because her sister was one of them." Melissa answered, that figured. I mean, Nicole wasn't a beauty, but she was pretty enough. I suppose I could see an older version with Demetri... kinda. "But that was when they first moved here. I haven't heard about any girl sleeping with him since."

"I can't believe we're actually having this conversation." I said, Melissa scoffed and said 'Welcome to Astoria High.' before she once more dashed off to lunch. Where she went, I'd probably never know – but Jeff was there to accompany me to the cafeteria. Once again, I got my tray, this time avoiding looking at anyone other than Demetri at the Cullen table... who suddenly found his plate interesting.

I scoffed as I looked around the table. Bella was the only one who made eye contact, and smiled, but I diverted my eyes away from hers once I sat down – pretending to engross myself in whatever it was that Chris was saying. Looking up only once, I saw that Bella looked almost sad. But I decided right then I wouldn't concern myself with them, and went back to what Chris was talking about. He apparently had decided that now was a good time to quiz me on my past. Jolly.

"So, where were you born?" he asked.

"Jacksonville, Florida." I answered.

"Where've you lived?"

"All over."

"Where specifically?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Norfolk, Sigonella, Naples, Stuttgart, San Diego, Marseilles." I answered like a M-16.

"Wow." Josh commented from the far end of the table.

"So you've really been all over." Chris said.

"Yep."

"So I heard you spoke Italian in class" Nicole.

"I did."

"So what languages do you know?"

"German, Italian, a bit of French. And I'm going to learn Spanish this fall." the table nervous chuckled at once.

"Genius much?" Chris asked.

I smiled, "My mom wanted us to be educated." I replied, cool as a cucumber on the outside, and hot as a tamale on the inside. I didn't like the Spanish Inquisition, but it seemed to be on the list second day I arrived... well, anywhere.

"So you have siblings?" Josh asked.

"Uh-huh. Three and a cousin. Meg, Erin, Ken, and Wes."

"They're not in school?" Chris.

"Meg and Ken are at Clatsop; Erin and Wes are going to Portland." I said.

"So you're the baby." Emma said teasingly.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Jeff nudged me, leaning over to whisper in my ear, "The Cullens are staring at you." Fighting the urge to look, I nodded.

"Everyone's staring, I'm the new meat waiting to be ripped up by the carnivores of Astoria." I quipped back. Jeff chuckled.

"Careful, Demetri was looking weirdly at you earlier." he said.

"Weird? How?"

"Like he wanted to – I don't know – eat you, or something." his blue eyes were clouded in concern.

I smirked, my mom really was a bad influence. "I can assure you, it'll be a cold day in hell before he ever sees me that naked." Jeff turned beet red and in the direction of the Cullen table I heard the big one – Emmett? – begin howling with laughter. Alice hid in Jasper's shoulder, but I could see her shoulders shake a little; and Bella was looking down at the table, shaking her head. I thought for a moment they had heard me, and were reacting to what I had said. But that was impossible, as I had said it too softly for them to hear across the cafeteria. Must have been something else which caused Demetri to suddenly glare at Emmett and storm out.

"So what are your plans after school?" Josh asked me, bringing my attention away from the Cullens.

I replied that 'I hadn't thought that far ahead, and liked to take one day at a time.' which got us all into a heated discussion about futures and how we all had to make our own choices. Before I knew it, it was time to go. Once more, I glanced at the Cullen table to find it empty. I obviously was too distracted to see them leave. With a wave to my friends, I left the cafeteria pulling out my map. However, I didn't get far before someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see Bella behind me.

"Need some help?" she asked me with a smirk. I stammered for a moment, somehow able to get out that my next class was English Lit. "I know, I'm in your class." she said, reminding me that I actually had seen her yesterday in Mrs. Walsh's class.

"Oh right, yeah, okay, yeah I saw you." I said after a moment, "You and... I wanna say Rosalie?"

Bella laughed, "Yeah, we're both in the same class. Come on, lets go." she said, taking my arm and leading me in the opposite direction. "By the way, your map is upside down."

I groaned, "Is that what it is?" I turned it, immediately being able to find myself. "I'm glad you said something, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to signal an S.O.S. or something."

"I'm sure someone around here would be willing to help you out." a voice which reminded me of an American Hedy Lamarr said. I turned to find the source, only to find Rosalie on my right. "They're all like that here. Ready to help." her tone turned disgusted, and I could only guess that it had to do with the guys at the school who were all to willing to 'help'. Even I had run into them.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Heather Riley."

"I know who you are." she said venemously. Bella glanced her way, but said nothing.

My first reaction would have been to back down, allow the model to just smack me and move on. I mean, I would never be able to win against her in anything, and I knew it. But then I remembered how Mom was always telling me that I didn't stand up for myself enough, I only hoped that she was right.

"Well I know who you are too, Ms. Hale, that doesn't stop me from introducing myself. After all, that's the _polite _thing to do. And my mom always taught me to be polite even when someone's not acting the same way. Golden Rule and all, I guess. I'm not one to be taciturn unless provoked. But, on the other hand, I suppose certain circumstances create different kinds of people. Maybe that's what makes me, me; and you, you. Well, circumstances and choices, as my dad says." that sounded better in my head.

Rosalie arched a golden eyebrow, and Bella looked at me in shock. "Do you always have a comeback?" Rosalie asked. She reminded me of a mixture of Meg and Erin. Weird combo.

"I try to. Don't always succeed though." I answered as we approached the door for our English Lit class. "I guess it depends on just how intimidated I am." I finished opening the door and walking in. Really, I disappoint myself. Probably not the best reply, but hey, at least I got the point across that I wasn't intimidated by her.

I sat down, immediately pulling out the reading list for the semester I got yesterday. Much Ado About Nothing, Wuthering Heights, Canterbury Tales, and Count of Monte Cristo. Diverse to be sure, I had already read half of them – wasn't too keen on Wuthering Heights though, I never liked it. Something I inherited from my mom, I abhorred tragedies. Put me in a room with Julius Caesar, I'll read it. Put Romeo and Juliet in front of me? Nope. Not happening in this lifetime.

Mrs. Walsh clapped her hands, "Alright class, good afternoon. Lets go to page 394 in your textbooks if you please." I snickered softly, that's something I would picture Mrs. Howe saying.

'Turn to page three-hundred and ninety four.' the whole scene played out.

"Severus Snape?" Bella asked from the seat next to mine. I nodded, turning to the assigned page, I wondered if Mrs. Walsh did it on purpose.

"Yeah, you seem like the Hermione type to me." Rosalie.

"Yep, most people see me like that." I said, "I suppose the nickname goes across the world, huh? Some things you can never escape."

My voice was shaky at best. I mean, seriously, I was sitting between two goddesses, and they actually didn't mind talking to me. I pinched myself momentarily, then squealed as it actually hurt. Nope, not dreaming.

Rosalie and Bella pretty much 'escorted' me around the school for the rest of the day, showing me to each class and taking me where I needed to go. Quite strange, considering Edward and Alice were so cold earlier in the morning. Speaking of, I hadn't seen them since lunch, neither had I seen Jasper, Emmett, Renesmee or Demetri. Odd, but I wasn't too worried, Bella was quite nice; Rosalie – despite her earlier behavior – didn't complain about showing me around, even tried to egg me on a little. I think she got a kick out of someone not being afraid or jealous of her just because of her looks.

Eventually, however, the day was over and Melissa found me again telling me she had called my mom and asked if I could ride home with her. Looking at my new... friends, if I could call them that, I said goodbye and headed out of the school. Glancing around the parking lot, I noticed something odd, though. The Volvo that I had seen the day before was gone, as well as the other shiny cars. Only one remained, which I soon saw Rosalie and Bella get into. It was as if the other Cullens had left early.

"Oh, yeah, they're went after lunch." Melissa told me on the way home.

"Why?"

"After Demetri stormed out, I guess he took off, so the guys went to make sure he didn't get himself in trouble. Or at least, that's what Tyson said, he saw them arguing by Edward's Volvo before they just took off. Said something about leaving Rose and Bella to take care of 'her'... whoever that is."

I gathered that 'her' probably was me, based on the fact that Bella and Rosalie had followed me around the entire afternoon. If that was the case... then either they were worried about me for some reason, or they were just plain weird. Maybe Bella would tell me tomorrow, if she was willing to not follow in Alice and Edward's footsteps, that is.

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Well? How is it going? Thank you for the one review, it convinced me to write another chapter. :D So, thanks a lot.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I don't own anything you recognize, and Astoria belongs to Oregon. This is a work of fiction, any relation to persons either living or dead are purely coincidence.

By the way, thank you for the follows and reviews. They have really kept me going when I thought that perhaps it might not be a good idea what I was writing. :D So, thanks.

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That afternoon, I had my notebook out to do my English assignment. I was half tempted to just use one of my old poems as my mind was far from the concepts of metaphoric rhymes. Then again, I knew that I wouldn't feel very happy with myself if I did, so I left it for later. Instead, my notebook had 'Cullens' written on the top of the page opened, I'm wasn't quite sure what I was doing I just knew it needed to be done. They just had piqued my interest, bringing my curiosity to a whole new level. I guess I was trying to figure out their coldness today, due to the fact that I was so confused. I wrote a few points down.

First – Alice: approached me first day of school. Friendly, warm, inviting, polite, wanted to get to know me and asked how I was coping. Asked Edward to accompany me to the next class which he did due to the fact that – as he said – she wouldn't leave him alone about it. Next day, pretended I didn't exist the entire day.

Second – Renesmee (I had since learned how to spell her name): also approached me with Alice, seemed friendly enough, though said little. Also ignored me.

Third – Edward: was amused by me slightly, but seemed to be enjoyable enough. Showed me to the class that I was supposed to go to, even waited for me to accompany me to the next one which he didn't have to do. However, he also ignored me the next day, pretending to be more engrossed in his books.

Fourth – Bella: Friendly, warm, inviting...

The list went on as I outlined my meeting with each of them, ending with Rosalie. Jasper and Emmett were blank on the page, as I had not yet talked to them. I looked it over, wondering if I could add anything else.

A musical doorbell rang at the bottom of my staircase, and getting up, I went to go see what I was needed for. Due to the fact that I lived practically in the attic, with a floor of empty rooms below me, my dad had installed a doorbell so that I would be able to know when I was needed. It made Ken laugh, and for the first day, he hit it just for grins. Jerk.

As it turned out, Meg told me that we had company again. Great, I suppose it comes with the neighborhood, in a small town everybody knows everybody; and everybody knows everybody's business. Poor Mr. Everybody. Erin was home already, so that was a plus, I wouldn't have to deal with whoever it was in worry of intimidation. If anything, Erin was always helping me out in that sector of my personality.

Our visitors were a kind elderly couple known as the Carsons. Ironically enough, the wife's name was 'Katherine', and her husband called her 'Kit'. Must have been a joke, but it made me smile. She was pretty nice, asking me about how I was enjoying the high-school, giving me pointers with a few of the teachers, including Mrs. Snape – sorry, Mrs. Howe – due to the fact that she had raised most of them as she was a teacher herself. It was funny tying to picture Mr. McBride trying to impress Mrs. Howe, or Ms. Taylor as she was then, I was glad they didn't marry, she'd drive him loony tunes. Mr. Carson promised to take Ken and Wes fishing while Mrs. Carson offered to take 'us girls' off my mom's hands for a day to show them 'What girls of my generation learned.' apparently its a better education, and it would count for my Home Ec on my report card. I couldn't complain, sounded good to me.

They stayed for dinner, and afterwards I went back to my room to finish my homework. After all, they had moved to a different topic, and what they were discussing now with my parents was something that I wasn't particularly interested in: politics. I didn't like it in school, I didn't like it in the civilian world. My view on politics? Its like the Senate in Star Wars. Corrupt, and those are doing good are drowned out by the people who want their own ends. Yeah, I can talk it, I just don't like it. This thought was in my mind as I went up the stairs, noting with a shiver that my window was open and the cold Oregon air was freezing my room. I closed it, but that didn't stop me from questioning who left it open, cause it wasn't me.

I sat down at my desk, picking up the notebook from before, prepared to continue with what I was doing. But the page I was writing on was gone, with all my thoughts on the Cullens. Looking in the trash, I didn't see it there either – maybe I tossed it out downstairs, if that was the case, I was dubious that I would find it again. With a sigh, I flipped to the back of the spiral notebook, where I had written down a few observations earlier. Six words stared back at me.

Gold eyes. Cold skin. Don't eat.

* * *

Ever had one of those dreams that are so real that you somehow incorporate actual things going on around around your sleeping form as part of the dream? Well the next morning, my alarm clock wound up in dreamland causing an irritating buzzing noise which wouldn't leave me alone. Eventually, however, it did stop, whether by my hand or otherwise I have no clue. Unfortunately, that meant that my other alarm clock was going to go off.

"WAKE UP!" I suddenly heard a voice scream in my ear, as the owner ripped off the covers, exposing me to the frigid air which didn't warm since last night. I screeched, immediately conscious, I almost began yelling at him before I looked over at the clock – I panicked. I had fifteen minutes total. After throwing my hysteric brother out of my room, I dressed like Flash, packed my bag, did a once-over in the mirror, and ran down the stairs with two minutes to spare. I looked up at the sky to determine whether I should put my coat on or not – but hey, the sun was shining, so I packed it away. Grabbing an apple I raced out the door to my mother who was already waiting in the car.

She smiled, looking at her watch, "Its a new record. I thought it took you at least fifteen minutes just to dress." she teased, it was true, I had a habit of pondering my clothes for too long causing me to be the longest dresser in the house... well, after my dad that is. However, I left her tease alone and just rolled my eyes with a chuckle. It was the family joke. So much so that Ken began came up with an answer: I kept getting kidnapped, but was too much of a hassle to keep so they sent me back. Each time I came into the room after changing, he would bound over to me with a relieved expression on his face saying 'Oh, we thought you were gone for good this time!'

We arrived at the school five minutes before Mr. McBride's class, meaning I had just that amount of time to run through the hallways and get a good seat. However, the first thing I noticed when I got to class was the absence of both Alice and Renesmee. Sitting down next to Emma, I stared at the empty chairs for a moment before Mr. McBride began asking questions pertaining to what we had read the previous evening. Maybe Alice had decided to switch classes.

Class ended, and Emma and I headed for Chemistry. I was curious to see if Edward had done the same... sure enough, his spot was empty too. Well hot damn. I looked over at Emma to see her equally as shocked when I suggested they switched classes.

"I don't think so. They've been here two years, and I can't say that they've ever switched classes once." she said. "They may just not be here."

I scoffed, "Well, if they did, I suppose its complimentary to know I'm special enough for them to switch classes." I said sarcastically.

"We don't know they switched classes." she insisted, looking at me as if I was some egotistical brat who was throwing a tantrum. "There have been a few times where they don't come to class. Ask Jeff, he probably knows." I nodded, and started listening to Mrs. Hicks.

Next class was Pre-Calc. Lo and behold, Demetri wasn't there. Shocker. But the chair next to Melissa was free, so I sat beside her, waving at Jeff on my way.

"Wondering where your Italian friend is?" Melissa asked as she caught my wandering gaze.

"No, I'm admiring the weather outside." I muttered. It really was a pretty day.

"None of the Cullens are here today." she answered, despite the fact I hadn't asked. "Its sunny. Dr. Cullen takes them on hikes on days like this, taking advantage of the sun."

Alright, I may be proud but I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. I blushed crimson, thinking back on what Emma had said. Maybe I had been egotistical when I spoke to her. I could hear my mother's voice say that I really oughtn't be so focused on what people did, cause what I think is the reason might not be the case, and obviously I was wrong. That being said, I abandoned all thought about the Cullens, thoroughly chastened by my conscience, and snickered quietly when thinking of Mrs. Howe. Poor Mr. McBride. Then again, I don't think he missed anything.

Class was over in no time, and Jeff told Melissa he would escort me to the cafeteria, a blush to his cheeks. Melissa nodded and smiled brightly, all but skipping out of the school doors. I wondered where she went, cause it seemed that her day brightened just by leaving the complex. Where does she go? I wondered, unknowing that it actually came out of my mouth.

"She didn't tell you?" Jeff asked, I shook my head. "She has a boyfriend that goes to Oregon State. She meets him half-way for lunch, then he goes back to class as well as she."

"Wow, college boyfriend. Somehow I'm not surprised." I replied, recalling each and every time she made fun of the high-schoolers here. I could see it.

"She met him when she was a sophomore here, he was a senior. He wasn't interested in her originally, from what I've heard. But I guess she won him over. Hulk of a guy, name's Felix. I think he's either Emmett's cousin or brother. I can never remember which. They're related, that's all I can say. But Felix is bigger by like half-a-foot."

I snickered, "Felix. Sounds like a cat's name." Jeff scoffed, trying to hide his smirk. "Maybe he purrs?" I continued, wondering what it was about people with similar names winding up together in books and such. My mind works in mysterious ways.

"Didn't think about that one, but I don't think he'd appreciate being called a cat." Jeff warned.

"Good thing I don't know him, then. He'd probably hate me." I replied. Jeff shook his head, then shrugged.

"So I heard you talking to Demetri yesterday. In Italian, no less." Jeff continued, I pondered why it was that both he and Melissa tended to bring up the Cullens in their conversations with me.

"Obviously you don't need to see an otolaryngologist." I replied, "Your ears are in perfect working order." his blue eyes were puzzled. "Ear, nose and throat doctor." I supplied, maybe they didn't have them here. He nodded in understanding.

"Nope. 20/20 vision too. So I don't need to see a obstetrician either."

"Nice to know you have all your senses in perfect working order." I deadpanned, he chuckled.

"I also heard that it was your 'other' personality." ah, so that's what he was getting at. We entered the cafeteria laughing as he made fun of my various accents. When we reached the table, Nicole was quick to tell me that the Cullens had gone hiking, which – at this point – all I did was shrug. I had already heard it, not to mention, I really didn't want to hear the latest gossip concerning how strange it was that the Cullens were all 'together'. Personally, I think she was jealous because she couldn't get Emmett to look twice at her. I did find myself looking over at the Cullen table, however, and nearly began to sing 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables'... it seemed fitting.

After English Lit, P.E came. Fortunately for me, the last few days I had been here, the coach, Mr. Straton, hadn't required much more than running in place, and sit ups. Then again, the gym was in tatters as they were currently renovating and nobody could play any sport while the floor was half-undone. But today, the sun was shining. So what did that mean? The outside volleyball and basketball courts were our destination. I groaned, I was bad at both. Though I enjoyed volleyball, I never could seem to hit the ball in such a way as to go over the net; and when I did, the opposing team wound up with at least one person with a broken nose. Basketball wasn't my forte either, in fact I didn't like it, I could never get the ball in the hoop.

However, Mr. Straton sectioned the girls to the volleyball court, and the boys to the basketball. Chris, Jeff, and Josh seemed to be slightly disappointed, though 'why' was confusing. However, I put it to the side, quickly getting into a P.E uniform that Mr. Straton found for me. When we got outside, everybody cheered – somebody even suggested that the day the sun shone should be a holiday. There I met a few new girls in my year. Rebecca Straton (Mr. Straton's daughter) a pretty blond who was the volleyball captain; Lucy Greer, whose cat-woman glasses caused me to practically like her instantly; and Tasha Carty, an athletic African American girl who, after I told her that I was a klutz, told me 'Not to worry and that she'd take care of me'. Emma was there too, and soon I found that my shy little friend was actually quite agile.

Needless to say, it wasn't long before the other team scored a point, the opposite captain – can't remember her name, but her Los Angeles attitude definitely turned me off – blamed me. It was my fault, but hey, no need to pour lemon juice on the cut. By the end of the hour, we had lost pretty badly: twenty to two. Well, at least we scored twice, right? Always look on the bright side of life.

"Can't say I didn't warn you that I was a jinx." I muttered.

"Nah, you aren't a jinx." Tasha replied, "You just need a little bit more practice. See, look, you need to hold your hands like this." for the next ten minutes, I was informed of how to play volleyball correctly. Thumbs tucked, arms straight, hit with the wrist. Maybe I'd try that tomorrow. With a wave, I headed off to government with Mr. Fitch, Lucy and Emma in tow.

"Hey, we're going to Portland on Friday after school." Lucy said excitedly, "You want to come?"

"Who's going again?" Emma asked from beside me.

"Tasha and Becca." Luce replied.

"I'll have to ask my parents." I said, can I let you know tomorrow?" I asked, they both affirmed that I could as we pulled out our notebooks. Mr. Fitch was the youngest teacher, and it showed, but hey, at least he knew what he was teaching – so his teaching skills weren't too problematic.

"Okay," he began in a slightly shaky voice before he cleared his throat. "Who can give me an overview of the Articles of Confederation?"

I raised my hand warily. I guess my reputation as a know-it-all was about to return.

* * *

Before I knew it, school was over, and I went out to the parking lot just as the clouds began rolling in again. Looking out, I saw that Melissa's Corolla wasn't waiting for me, but Edward's silver Volvo was there. Curious. I waited for Melissa a bit, maybe she'd drive up at any moment saying 'sorry', but apparently she had forgotten that she was giving me a ride home. I began walking, as I only lived a few blocks away, what was the worst that could happen? I didn't get far, however, as a car came up behind me. The window rolled down, Bella smiling widely.

"Hop in." she invited, I hesitated, I could walk there... "Don't worry, I'm not going to bite you." then with a smirk she added, "Well, yet." I shrugged, getting in the passenger seat.

"How was your hike?" I asked after a few minutes, her bell-like laugh resounded in the car.

"It went well. The boys were all having a competition, so that made it interesting." she answered. I nodded, not really willing to pry at just what the competition was about.

"I thought you weren't coming in at all." I said, changing the topic, but my curiosity demanded satisfaction.

Her gold eyes turned to me, "I wasn't. But Melissa called me and said that she wouldn't be able to pick you up."

"Oh." I replied, looking out the window, then motioning for her to turn left. "I didn't know you knew Melissa."

"She's dating my... I guess you could call him cousin, Felix."

"So I heard. Emmett's cousin then?"

"Somebody's been talking." Bella said, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Nah, I simply ask too many questions." she nodded, pulling up to my house in no time flat. "Thanks, for the ride. I would've walked here, but it was nice to see you."

She pushed her hair back, "Yeah, well, I'm happy to be of service." she replied with a smile, looking at the pavement before the garage. "Are your parents not here?"

"No, doesn't look like it. Mom normally is, but she might be over at the neighbor's house right now or something – oh, wait, she said she was going to the store with Meg and Wes this morning, so she's probably shopping right now." I went to get out, but had to ask. "Sorry, don't mean to pry, but, I can't help but wonder..."

"The eyes." Bella stated. I nodded, embarrassed that she already knew. Was I that obvious? "They're contacts. They... help us feel more like a family." she answered.

"But Demetri's are violet?"

"You noticed that, huh?" she sighed, "Lets just say he doesn't like to go with the flow."

I nodded, moving to get out, but stopped once more, "I'm sorry but can I ask another question?"

"You just did." Bella pointed out, but it was obvious she wanted me to continue.

I sighed, "Why did Alice act the way she did yesterday?" I asked, unable to hold back my irritation at her sister, "And why is Demetri looking like he is in pain or something?"

Bella shook her head, "Two questions, Heather. But you'd have to ask Alice about the first one... and you'll have to ask Demetri about the second." I sighed.

"Alright, thanks for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow?" she looked up at the sky and then nodded. I finally got out, walking into my house. After locking the door behind me, I finally heard the Volvo speed off down the street.

Well, that was unexpected.

* * *

Well? What do you think so far. Review below. By the way, if I make any canon character 'Oc' let me know, as I try to keep them true to their original character and don't like when people change. So, let me know. :D


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **I don't own the Twilight Saga or any persons associated with it.

* * *

The Pink Panther rang through my room at six o'clock the next morning, apparently someone was trying to call me at this ungodly hour. I didn't recognize the number, but knew enough about Astoria to know the area code was from hereabouts. "Hello?" I croaked out, my head still on the pillow.

"Heather?" I heard on the other line, "Its Alice." that got me up.

"Alice, how'd you get my number?" I asked.

"Melissa gave it to me." she answered. "I was calling to apologize for my behavior the other day."

"Alice, its six in the morning, why are you calling me now?"

"Well, Bella told me you were upset yesterday, and so I wanted to apologize. You're new, and I didn't think of how it must be viewed to you. I was just having a bad day... and I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before."

I blew a raspberry, everyone had an off day, and I was all about second chances. "That's understandable. If I went without sleep I'd probably be pretty unsociable too." truth was I became Bellatrix Lestrange when I was cranky – until of course my mom snapped me out of it with a 'Hey!'. Then I just became a more docile Bellatrix. "So I guess you're forgiven." I finished.

I heard Alice giggle on the other line, "Thank you, I'm sorry it won't happen again." she promised, I had no idea why she was so... happy about it. "Maybe I can drive you to school? You know, as penance for my behavior." she suddenly said. The girl was bipolar.

"Melissa was going to pick me up." I said.

"Oh, I talked to her, she said that if you said 'yes' then she had no problem." I almost asked how she was so friendly with Melissa when I remembered what Jeff said. _'Felix is like Emmett's brother... or cousin.' _and Bella's _'She called me and said she couldn't pick you up.' _apparently she was more than friendly with the Cullens.

"Sure, I guess so." I said.

I swear, I heard a squeal, "Alright, I'll see you at seven." she announced. I looked at my phone, it was 6:15, that left me with fifteen minutes more sleep before my alarm went off, and thirty minutes before she showed up.

"Sounds good." I replied, "See you then."

"Bye." she said, hanging up the other side. Putting my phone back on the nightstand, I slid back under the covers and tried to go back to sleep.

A seemingly second later, the buzzing of my clock went off. Stretching, I reached over and killed it, getting out of bed and beginning my morning routine. Half-an-hour later, I was showered, and walked out of my adjoining bathroom to find Alice on my bed. I looked at the clock: it was 7:02. I'll give her credit, she was punctual.

"Hello!" she said brightly. How she did that, I'll never know, as the bags under her eyes gave the impression that she hadn't slept. Then again, the entire family looked like that.

"Hi, I'm surprised to see you here." she looked at me curiously. "In my room, I mean" I added quickly, my ears already burning.

"Oh, Erin showed me up. I told her I called you ahead of time and that you were expecting me." she explained. "I have to say, you two look a lot alike. She's just a blond-haired, blue-eyed version."

I chuckled, "Yeah. You met my mom yet?" I asked. She shook her head. "Well, we both look like her, I just got my dad's brown eyes, while Erin inherited my grandfather's blond hair. But when you meet my mom you will see how similar her daughters look like her." I said, opening up my closet.

"Who do your other siblings take after?" she asked.

"Well, Meg is a combination. She has dad's curly hair, but its brown like mom's instead of black, while her eyes are blueish like moms, her nose is my dad's, and she gets her height from his side of the family." I said, pulling out a black sweater and a pair of gray slacks. "Ken looks like dad, but with mom's colored hair and eyes."

"Gotcha. Well, I guess I'll meet them soon enough to know what you're talking about." Alice said as she shook her head at my choices. Getting up from my bed, she daintily walked over to where I stood. Reaching into my closet, she picked out a different ensemble – white polo, with a rather colorful jacket, as well as a gray skirt. "You have good taste, I'll give you that, and while the outfit you chose is really nice, its also very bland. Too stiff. Have a little more fun." she told me wisely.

I chuckled, "Its funny, that's actually what I was going to pick originally. But it looked a little cold for the skirt and short sleeved polo." I said, "However..." it went back and forth for a bit, until we both finally agreed. The jacket she chose, a red long sleeved tee, and my gray skirt with my favorite knee-high boots. I'll say, Pixie girl had style. Not my style, mind, as I am far too 'prim and proper' for certain things like what she was wearing – as I wouldn't be caught dead in tights, or ballet flats – but I'll admit it looked good. It was 7:30 when we were done, and I still had to eat breakfast. Brushing my hair quickly, and grabbing my bag, I ran down the stairs, Alice on my heels.

"Good morning, Riley Clan." I greeted to my assembled family. "This is Alice Cullen, she's going to give me a ride to school." I introduced the girl who was a few inches shorter.

Everybody said 'Hello' as my mom set a plate before me. "Alice, have you had breakfast yet?" my mom asked.

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Riley, I've already eaten." Alice declined, scrunching her nose at my mother's infamous French toast. What she found gross was beyond me, I snarfed it down like it was my last meal.

"Cullen?" Meg asked, "Are you related to Dr. Cullen?"  
"He's my dad." Alice answered, "Well, adopted dad."

"No way." Meg replied, "Your dad? He can't be more than twenty-five."

Alice's tinkling laugh was heard, "Yeah, well, he's well preserved."

"You sound like you're talking about a pickle, not a person." Ken said, causing me to kick him under the table. He could be such an idiot at times. Alice just laughed.

"You met Dr. Cullen then?" my dad asked Meg.

"Dad, I'm working toward a medical degree." Meg replied, "I'm going to intern at Columbia Hospital next semester. I went there to find out how to work it, and I was referred to Dr. Cullen." by the smile on her face I could tell that she liked him. I rolled my eyes, my sister was always attracted to married men. I wouldn't touch them with a 39 ½ foot pole.

Alice seemed to notice too, her thin eyebrow was raised in suspicion. I looked at the clock, seeing it was now 7:45, we had to go. With a wave goodbye, and a reminder from my mom that we were going out for dinner, I left the house with Alice. Unfortunately, it had rained during the night, and when I reached the bottom step of the porch I slid on the slick stones. I braced for impact, but it never came as cold hands caught my arms and kept me upright. Alice. I was shocked at her strength.

"Careful there." she said. I chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, I do that from time to time. Though I'll say that it doesn't bode well for the rest of my day."

We made our way to the yellow Porsche. Somehow it didn't surprise me that this was Alice's car, it fit her personality. "Buckle up!" she said excitedly, worrying me somewhat. I mean, the car is built for speed, and she looked a little worrisome as she bounced in her seat. We took off, going the opposite direction than I was used to... I guess Alice wanted to show off a bit. Eventually we pulled into the parking lot of the school, at top speed I might add. She giggled next to me, "I'm sorry, did I embarrass you?" she asked as I looked around – everyone was staring.

"No, my family has inoculated me from embarrassment." I replied, unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out. Together, Alice and I made our way to Mr. McBride's class. Emma smiled at me as we came in, and I waved. Renesmee waved as well, and I was soon seated next to Alice. For the next class period, Alice and I were practically competing for the most answers... it was a tie. Mr. McBride suddenly announced that we were going to do a history project on the Tsars of Russia. He paired Nessie and Emma, while Alice and I were paired together. She looked pleased, and unsurprised. It was almost as if she was expecting it.

Class was dismissed, and after saying goodbye to Alice, I headed out with Emma for Chemistry. Edward seemed to be waiting for me and motioned to the seat next to him. I smiled, Bella must have said something to him as well. It was funny, I think that I liked Bella the best, she was the only one who continued to be friendly no matter what. I shrugged and sat next to him, if Bella worked hard to get them to talk to me, I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Sorry about the other day." he apologized.

"No sleep?" I asked, because if he used that excuse I was going to kill both him and Alice.

The bronze haired man shook his head with a chuckle, "No, I just had had a fight with... one of my siblings. I wasn't in the mood to talk." he said. "Sorry if I seemed unhappy with you, it had nothing to do with you."

I shrugged, "No harm, no foul."

Mrs. Hicks soon called attention, bringing our focus to the beakers in front of us.

"Today, we will be studying chemical reactions." she announced to the class, "So I want you all to pull out these chemicals by their element abbreviation beginning with Na. So find that ingredient by its common name in the boxes below your desk." the class scrambled to get below, and I quickly picked up the sodium. "Now, you have Vinegar in front of you. What is in vinegar... Tyson?" Tyson answered incorrectly, but Edward raised his hand, getting the answer right. "Now that we have established that, I am going to give you your first experiment. We are doing two today, but one is going to wait overnight."

The other beaker had water, which I assumed the Sodium would go in. I always liked this experiment. "You know the experiment?" Edward asked from beside me. I nodded.

Mrs. Hicks then explained the boiled-egg experiment, which I had learned in 8th grade, so I paid very little attention. She then explained that we were to put 'Na' in the water, to see the common reaction. Edward measured, and soon we had a sparking beaker full of water. Great, it went good. I quickly jotted down the reaction in my notepad as I watched Edward do the same. However, to my shock, I heard a different sound above the hissing sodium in water... something we shouldn't have heard – glass shattering behind me.

I didn't have time to react as I felt something slice into the back of my head, and instinctively I put my hand back, feeling a sticky substance. The last thing I saw were Edward's eyes go black as I passed out.

* * *

I woke some time later, the sound of a P.A system squawking. "Dr. Morton, please go to pediatrics. Dr. Morton, please go to pediatrics." I groaned, opening my eyes to see white-washed walls and blue-patterned curtains. A hospital... great. I tried to sit up, but couldn't get very far before I got dizzy and laid back down. The curtain was pulled back slightly, revealing Meg.

"Oh, you're awake." she breathed in relief, "Mom she's up." the curtain was pulled back a little more as my mom came up to me.

She sighed, a smile gracing her features at seeing me awake. "Ken, go get Dr. Cullen." she said to the other side of the curtain where my brother must have been sitting. I heard his receding footsteps.

"How –" I tried rasping out, my throat was as dry as if I had swallowed a feather pillow. I swallowed and tried again. "How long have I been out?"

"About an hour and a half." mom answered, "The back of your head was bleeding pretty badly, but you're all stitched up now." I reached up to feel it, but she grabbed my hand. "No, honey, we need to wait for the doctor to say that you can do that first."

The footsteps returned, two pairs this time, and Meg left to be replaced by a very handsome young doctor. This was Dr. Cullen? _Schiesse. _No wonder my sister was pining after him, he was as good looking as his sons, with slicked back blond hair, perfect features, and gold eyes. I would be surprised if the majority of the female population_ wasn't_ falling over themselves for him. Poor Mrs. Cullen. To know your husband is _that _good looking, and everyone is constantly trying to replace you. Not that she had to worry about me, that is.

"Hello, Heather." he greeted smoothly, "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts." it was true, I had the worst headache I had ever had in my life. I felt like there was a bomb inside, and it was exploding with no outlet and so everything was contained within my skull.

He chuckled, "Yes, well you did have a head-injury. Very serious. What do you remember last?"

"The beaker behind me exploded, and Edward looked panicked." I told him, remembering how the gold in his son's eyes turned pitch black. Like Demetri's had been the first day I saw him... odd.

"Well at least you retained your memory. Would you sit up for me Heather?" he asked, I tried, ignoring the dizzy spell and sighed as I fought to keep my stomach in check. He pulled out a flashlight, looking in my eyes. "Well everything internally is fine, it bled a lot but that's because of where it was." he told my mom. "I will sign a slip for her to be excused from class tomorrow. She shouldn't go to school with an injury like that."

"But I was going to Portland tomorrow." I replied. He shook his head.

"For your own good, stay at home." he ordered me, taking out a pen and writing on – what I assumed was – my chart. My Mom said she'd go tell Ken to get the car pulled up front, but he and Meg had left for the hospital cafeteria. So she left me with the good doctor. "So, Heather, how are you enjoying Astoria?" he asked.

"Better than I thought it would. I've made a few friends." I wondered if I should mention my friendship with his kids.

An amused chuckle escaped him, "Yes, Bella and Rosalie were clear to let me know about that. They weren't too pleased with how my other children were treating you." he told me. Rosalie wasn't pleased with Alice and Edward's behavior? I was shocked. "They like you quite a bit. Even if Rosalie doesn't show it." I guess my face was obvious.

"Dr. Cullen, do you happen to know what caused that beaker to explode?" I asked, he nodded.

"Edward said that the student behind the two of you accidentally chose Potassium instead of Sodium. The combination in that small container caused a bigger explosion than he was expecting. He didn't have many injuries as his partner realized his mistake right as the combustion occurred and pulled him under the table."

"Hmm..." I replied, "Thanks. By the way, who brought me here?"

"Bella and Rosalie did, actually. Edward was... detained."

Edward was right next to me when that glass exploded. "Is he okay?" I asked, imagining the worst. Poor Edward, to watch the person next to you get sliced and then get sliced yourself was gruesome. Dr. Cullen nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, he's fine. He said the beaker mostly exploded in your direction. He got a scratch from a very small fragment." he said, signing the paper which would release me from the hospital. "Now, don't wash the wound area for a couple of days. Come back on Monday and we'll see how its doing." he instructed, "And no going to Portland tomorrow, understand?" I nodded like a good patient, no way was I in the mood to disobey this guy. He was simply too good-looking to disobey. Yes, I am really that shallow. "I'll send Alice over to check on you, which I'm sure she'll do without me even asking. She was quite distraught over what happened to you, and has been calling every half-hour."

I smiled, it was strange to have someone other than my family worried about me. "Yeah, she called me at six this morning, apologizing for her behavior from a few days ago." I said somewhat out of it. Dr. Cullen opened the curtain further, helping me out of the bed. His touch was like touching marble: cold and hard.

"I'm sure she was sincere. She usually is." he replied to what I had said earlier, just as my mom came back in. "Now, I think I'll leave you to your family's care. I'll see you on Monday." and with that he was gone.

We made our way home, all plans for dinner canceled. And after a few hours of just vegging out on Sandra Bullock movies, I went to bed. Too tired to bother with really anything, I ignored the fact that my window was open and went to sleep.

* * *

okay, I'm a little nervous about this chapter. What do y'all think?


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I don't own anything you recognize.

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I slept like a rock, and when the alarm clock went off, I simply turned it off. Considering I wasn't going to school, I didn't have to wake up so early, so I went back to bed. When I woke the second time it was 8:00 – that was sleeping in in my book – and going to the bathroom, I gingerly began brushing my hair. I didn't get far though, as Erin came in, and after sitting me back down on the bed, she began brushing my hair herself. I didn't like being catered-to, but I knew that if I resisted it would only cause more problems. When she was done, she watched me like a hawk until I made it down both flights of stairs and into my mother's care. At which point, she left for Portland. Gotta love my older sisters.

Mom inquired as to my current state of heath, which I could only shrug and say that I felt 'okay'. I mean, I sliced my head open the day before, and the pain medication was making me a bit loopy, I think it was safe to say that I was only 'okay'. I couldn't help but think about the list in my notebook, of growing oddities of the Cullens. Maybe they were just really weird and I was focusing too much on them due to the fact that I liked to know just how weird a weird person was. But here's what I figured out.

One: the gold eyes that turned black for some odd reason. Now it could be said that it had something to do with the contacts, and that they reacted weirdly under immense panic... but I'd never seen contacts like that.

Two: ballet-like Alice, who couldn't weigh more than a dry leaf, catching me before I hit the pavement and helping me back up. Maybe she lifted weights in her spare time? Or maybe she was like me – small but strong as an ox. Though I am not quite sure I could see Alice's tiny arms have the ability to hold up a somewhat more bulky person like myself. But hey, if the shoe fits.

Three: Edward's constant laughing whenever I was in the room. Every time I had a thought that was about the Cullens, it was almost as if he was reading my mind and snickering at me. That, and he always answered questions I never asked. Or commented on something which I hadn't said.

Four: ice cold, and marble-like. Now I don't know about you, and though I could easily write off 'cold' as 'They actually are cold because it is simply freezing up here.' There seemed more to it. Mostly because they _never _seemed to warm up. I mean, even when my touch was like ice, I managed to produce some body heat, that, and my flesh was still pretty malleable. Dr. Cullen's hands the day before were like being gripped by rocks, not uncomfortably so, but I knew that if he wanted to pull me somewhere else, I wouldn't be arguing.

These points I pondered during breakfast. When I was done, I almost headed up to my room to get my notepad and books, I wasn't going to get behind, but Mom stopped me and like the mother hen she is told me that I wasn't to do anything that had to do with going up and down stairs. I nearly argued, but stopped as I realized that being her youngest, she worried about me more. Not that I enjoyed being treated like an invalid – well, for the most part – but I figured just to give her that day, and tomorrow she'd let me do what I wanted.

The rest of the day flew with me doing some homework, doing whatever I could for my mom despite her protesting, and before I knew it the front doorbell rang. Sitting me down with a cup of tea, which I had requested, mom went to answer it. The familiar voice of Alice Cullen rang through the foyer, and Mom soon led her into the family room. I looked up to the clock, sure enough it was after school.

"Hows the invalid?" Alice asked brightly.

"The _patient_ is doing well, thank you Ms. Cullen." I replied.

"She doesn't like being called an invalid." I heard my mom whisper conspiratorially in Alice's ear. Alice laughed.

"Well, then I'm sorry, _patient, _Carlisle asked to know how you were feeling?" she rephrased.

"Carlisle?" I repeated.

"My dad." she replied. Not the first time I had heard a child call their father by his first name, mind you, but being as if I ever called my dad Richard my family would have a fit, it was slightly foreign.

"I'm feeling fine. They won't let me _do _anything, so I have no other choice but to feel fine." I replied, looking back at the doorframe. Reason being? Rosalie was standing there. "Hello Rosalie." I greeted.

"Heather." she greeted back, "Its good to see you conscious." oh, right, she and Bella had driven me to the hospital.

"Dr. Cullen said that you and Bella drove me to the hospital. Thanks for that. I hope it wasn't too much of a bother for you." I said. She shook her head.

"Considering all I did was drive, while Bella tried to stop the bleeding, I don't think you were too much of a bother." Rosalie replied, "It was a pretty nasty cut. Edward said that a beaker exploded into the back of your head."

"He would know more about it than I would, he witnessed it while I passed out." I replied just as I heard the front door open again. Soon enough it seemed the entire Cullen Clan was there, headed by Bella. I really loved that girl. The room filled quickly, as all the Cullen boys are simply large space takers. There was even a new face, who I was soon introduced to as Jacob Black, Nessie's boyfriend. Or should I say, Nessie's _huge _boyfriend. The dude was easily around 7 feet tall, bigger than Emmett, russet skin, and black hair. If I had to guess I would say he was of Native American descent.

It was then that I was introduced to the burly Emmett, and pained Jasper. Emmett smiled widely, showing off his dimples, and told me how 'Rose' was pretty worried about me, and hoped I would get better soon cause he didn't like seeing her so upset. I watched as his blond girlfriend shook her head at him, but looked at him adoringly all the same. They were probably the cutest couple ever.

Alice had flitted over to Jasper's side with a smile. Stiffly, the man nodded in my direction, choking out a 'Nice to meet you'. For a moment, I wondered if he just wasn't very sociable. Perhaps even shy around strangers... hey, I met guys like that.

"I'm sorry, Miss Riley, I'm not very good at talking to people who... I don't know." Jasper said, a slight southern twang to his voice. Quite nice sounding actually.

"No problem. Just having you all in the room at once, with three out of ten I don't know – I'm a little shy myself." I replied understandingly.

"We're glad to see you're okay." Bella told me, "There was a moment where I was worried that you weren't going to make it. There were several of us who were pretty worried about your situation." her golden gaze rested on Demetri in particular.

"I heard Alice called Dr. Cullen every half-hour." I replied, she shrugged.

"You warned me earlier in the day that you had somehow jinxed yourself – you remember, when you almost fell on the pavement?" I nodded, "It was just a shame that I couldn't stop the glass from hitting you in the head."

"I'm sorry I didn't react sooner." Edward, of course, the guy seemed to beat himself up a bit. He smiled – like usual. "You had already been hit and passed out by the time the rest of the blast went off, I got you under the table to avoid getting showered by the rest of the falling glass. But it was already too late." he looked at Demetri, who was glaring hard at poor Edward. I almost wanted to shout 'Hey, leave the guy alone, he's already feeling like crap.' but I didn't want to risk making him feel more like crap. So I chose a different method.

"Ciao, Demetri, è un piacere vederti." I said, he smiled slightly, turning his gaze away from poor Edward. "Come stai?"

"Molto bene, grazie. E voi?" he replied, the rest of the family just looked between us before Alice asked if she could take Rosalie and Bella to see my room. I shrugged, unsure of how to answer such a question, but deciding that I better not argue. Soon, then entire room emptied, leaving Demetri and I alone.

"Son stato meglio." I replied. "But the pain medication is making me feel a bit funny." I continued, switching to English.

"Funny as in 'ha-ha', or funny as in 'strange'?" he asked.

"Both actually." I answered, he nodded. I watched him for a moment – he was stock still, not even breathing. If I didn't know better I would've thought he was a statue. However, I took the opportunity to make observations... such as, his appearance. It was so odd, with all the Cullens actually, they all looked as if they didn't get any sleep. Yet, Alice was as hyper as she was, and I'd never seen them nap in class.

We both were silent, as I wasn't sure how to talk to him – his excuse, I'm not quite sure. "So, I've heard you've moved around a lot." he finally spoke.

"Yeah, my dad was in the navy, so I've had my trips around the world." I answered, the awkwardness of the situation pressing down on me. "So, I'm not quite sure I understand. I was told that you were Edward's brother, but you're from Italy... ?"

"Ah, yes, I can see your confusion. Well, I was raised in Italy with a different family; as opposed to Edward who was raised in the Cullen household." Demetri answered, "I moved here a few years ago, due to the fact that my... family over there thought it would be best for me to stay with the Cullens for a while." he seemed to be holding something back, but I wasn't going to ask.

"That kinda makes sense. So you're the older brother?" Demetri smirked.

"Something like that."

"I guess the whole 'Cullen dynamic' still has me a bit confused." I replied.

"They're a confusing family, I'll give you that. They've always been a little... different." he said, as if alluding to something else. His violet eyes peered into my brown ones, reminding me of another question I had.

"Can I ask you something? Why is it that the Cullen's all have gold eyes, contacts whatever, but you have violet?" Demetri tensed, and went to sit down.

"Personal preference." he finally said.

"You prefer purple eyes?"

He laughed, shaking his head, "Yeah, I suppose I do. Though don't think they haven't tried to convince me to move over to their side, I just have my own opinions on the matter." again with the double speak. I shook my head, settling my eyes on my hands. "What?" he asked, tilting his head in a very cute manner.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking how it takes a very confident man to be able to do that. Purple is more girlish, I guess." I closed my eyes, that didn't come out like I wanted. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong."

"No, no, I understand what you're saying. I suppose I just am not that keen on... going gold. I prefer to be a little more natural."

"So your eyes are actually purple?" he just laughed, ignoring my question altogether, and opting to change the subject.

"I'll pass on that question." at least he was honest. "So, how are you liking Astoria?"

"Cold, wet, cold, somewhat friendly, cold." I think I made my point clear.

"I take it you don't like the cold?"

"Certain colds I like. Dry colds are nice, windy colds are horrid, wet colds are the worst – kinda like wet summers, they're hot and muggy and miserable. So this cold falls in the 'worst' category. I prefer a Montana winter to this." I answered.

"Interesting. What's your favorite type of weather?"

"Overcast, around 70º, with a gentle breeze."

"So I take it you didn't enjoy the Mediterranean?"

I shrugged, "It was okay." I answered simply, "I enjoyed where I was when I was there."

Demetri nodded, then looking up he stood. My mom came into the room, a glass of milk in her hand, she gave it to me with a meaningful look. Which, if I knew anything about my mom, was telling me that she was watching the interaction between Demetri and myself. As I have stated before, my family is protective. I introduced them, setting my mom a bit more at ease now that she knew just who her daughter was talking to. With a nod, she left the room.

"So, tell me a little about yourself." Demetri suddenly said, I sighed, not quite knowing where to begin – I said as much. "Okay, how about you start with where you were born, the date, and what followed." he suggested.

"Uh, okay. I was born in Florida, on October 22, 1995. My dad was in the navy, so he was on deployment to the gulf of Oman..." so began my life story, from my life in America, to Italy, to why my dad was deployed to Afghanistan, to why we moved back to the states... everything mapped out in a half-hour diatribe. By the end, Demetri was more knowledgeable about my past than I was about his. That, and Alice was taking a very long time in my room... whatever it was she was doing up there.

"I'm surprised in all that moving that you hadn't had a boyfriend. I'm sure you had at least one... boy pursuing you." he said. "After all, you're quite appealing to the eyes, so it seems practically impossible."

I smirked, "I've had two boyfriends, the first one was when I was about fourteen, I was a freshman, he was a senior. We were together for two years, then he decided that there were bigger fish in the pond and took off. In the literal sense of the phrase. He actually just left town – I don't know where he is. The second boyfriend I met a week later, and he was – quite frankly – a rebound. We were together for about three months before I realized that he wasn't what I thought he was. Then we moved here." I explained.

"Alright, so I was wrong to assume you hadn't had a boyfriend." Demetri muttered.

"Like you said, I'm easy on the eyes." I said, "Andrew made that clear – he was the first boyfriend. Anthony made it clear that he liked me for the same reason; it was kinda funny, neither were exactly 'good-looking', so I think they wanted me because I made them look good."

Demetri scoffed, muttering something in Italian, but it was too low for me to make out what he said.

"So, how about you?" I asked him, causing his head to whip around rather quickly.

"What?"

"Your life, what's it been like? I've heard a lot of things since I came here."

"Oh? What kind of things?"

"Well, for one I heard you were a Casanova the first year you came here."

Demetri shook his head. "People need to mind their own business." he hissed, I stopped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Not you, _piccola, _I wasn't talking about you. You're curious, that's all. I was talking about the people who you talked to." he replied, running a hand through his hair. "My reputation is not who I am. I've found that people confuse the two."

"Then why don't you set the record straight?" I asked, feeling particularly bold. His eyebrow raised, his violet eyes once more having the painful look in them.

"I suppose I could... but I am not sure you'd be too receptive to the truth." he said.

"Oh? Do you know me so well that you think that?" perhaps I was harsh, but I wasn't too happy that I had just spilled my guts and he was holding back.

He shook his head, "Forgive me, _cara mia, _I did not mean to upset you. Thus far you have not responded in ways which I have expected. But if you really want to know –"

"Demetri, we need to go!" Rosalie's voice said from the doorway to the room "Everyone else are in the vehicles." I turned to see her, her gold eyes blazing in fury and concern. Demetri clenched his jaw, and for a moment I thought he would retort with some kind of a biting remark. But he kept his mouth shut, and smiled at me.

"I'm sorry, I guess we'll have to continue another time _dolcezza._" he said, standing and picking up my hand, he kissed it in a very old-fashioned way. I blushed, wondering if he indeed had been Lothario... it seemed like a womanizing thing to do.

Rosalie huffed in the background as he walked away. Her gold eyes stared at me in concern, before she smiled. "Alice will most likely come over again tomorrow. You guys have an assignment to do after all. So, I'll see you then." she said as gently as she could, waving and walking out. I smiled, I have to say I liked Rosalie.

I sat in the room alone now, pondering about my rather interesting afternoon.

Well that didn't go as expected.

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Okay, in response to my reviewer who said that I was going very similar to Twilight: I know, I did begin very similar to Twilight, mostly because I wasn't sure how to begin a story like this at first. I think that later on down the road, if I have enough reviewers, favorites etc, and once I'm a little more comfortable in my own skin, I'll probably edit it to change it up a bit. So, I thank you for what you said, as I already knew but it was nice to know you thought the same. Also, its nice to know you liked it anyways, as that was one thing I was worried about :D So, thanks.

Well, as for the rest of you... what do you think? leave your review below.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **I don't own Twilight or its associates.

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_I was running. The trees around me passed in a blur. I stumbled, panicking as I couldn't get caught again, I couldn't let them take me when he had worked so hard to get me out of there. But where were the others? I didn't know. I didn't understand what I had done for them to come after me. He had made it clear just what he wanted to do, so why did they come after me? All I knew, was that I was running. I didn't even know from what. I just knew I had to get out of there, I couldn't let them find me. If they found me, they'd kill me. The sound of a rooster surrounded me, I couldn't find the source – and the world went black. _

"Er, er, errr. Er, er, er, errr." I opened my eyes to find that someone was next to my bed, interrupting my stressful dream. "Good morning, buttercup!" Wes said brightly, kissing my forehead.

"Morning." I somehow croaked out, my throat as dry as the Sahara desert.

"Its eight, Jodi's got breakfast which is in five minutes, and your friend called and said she'd be over by ten." he informed me, moving over toward my staircase. "So, time to get up."

I nodded, tossing the blankets away from me. I shivered as the frigid air hit my skin – I really needed to get some warmer pajamas. T-shirt and boy shorts was not working here. I trudged over to my dresser, grabbing a pullover and socks before heading down the stairs. My eyes were somewhat at half-mast as I entered the kitchen, sitting down at the table.

"Good morning, sunshine." my mom greeted, kissing me on the forehead. "How's your head?"

I placed a hand at the wound, it didn't hurt right now. "Better."

"I can't believe you sliced your head open." Meg said, stabbing a piece of sausage with her fork. "That's just such a you thing to do."

My chocolate brown eyes rolled toward the heavens. "In my defense, I had nothing to do with it. The kid's beaker exploded... into my head. I'm fortunate that Edward got me under the table, or I sincerely doubt that Dr. Cullen would have allowed me out of the hospital." I replied as mom set the plate of pancakes and sausage in front of me.

"Oh, he got you under the table? Before or after the blast?" Ken asked, suddenly giggling to himself. I didn't get it, so I didn't comment. "Oh come on! That was funny."

"Only in your deranged brain. I don't even understand what you're talking about." I replied, taking my first bite. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Meg shake her head at her twin brother. He just looked at her offended, and grumbling that 'He thought it was good' he returned to his breakfast.

"So, how did it go with the Cullens yesterday?" my dad asked, "Your mom told me you talked to one of them for the better part of an hour."

"Yeah, Demetri." I began, "Eh, Alice took the others upstairs to see my room – not that understand that one, but she was already half-way upstairs when she said it – and left Demetri. We talked about pasts. He lived in Italy, in Tuscany. So he's moved around a bit as well."

"Demetri Cullen?" Erin finally spoke – oh, wait, she had said good morning.

"Yeah."

"I think he's related to Felix, like they lived together or something in Italy. Felix is the big guy's big brother. You know, the big Cullen guy?" she motioned with her hands as if she were showing me a very large... midget.

"Emmett."

"Yeah, Emmett. That sounds right. Anyways, Felix is supposed to be his brother." his brother huh? Hmm... I'd have to meet Felix one of these days.

I smirked, remembering what I had said the day before. 'It sounds like a cat's name.' "Felix huh? I've heard of him."

"Oh really?" Wes replied, "Cause he has a reputation at Portland. Apparently he dated half the girl's dorm within the first six months of going there."

"But not anymore, apparently he got himself a permanent girlfriend, and hasn't messed around with anyone since, so his reputation is currently fading." Erin added. "How do you know about him?

I nearly laughed, "Well, lets say I know his permanent girlfriend." I said, looking at my mom as she sat down for her own breakfast.

"As long as it isn't you, honey, I'm fine." dad said sternly.

"Oh, dad, I haven't been here long enough to get a boyfriend. Besides, I've been burned, and have no intention of getting burned again in such a short amount of time." I replied, finishing my breakfast.

The rest of the meal surrounded various topics, from dad's job, to the women of the town who had invited mom to a cookout (which meant we all would go – Ken 'whooped' loudly at this), to a piano teacher that lived nearby and was willing to give me some lessons. By the end of the meal, we pretty much planned the week, and I excused myself to get on some normal clothes before Alice arrived.

The doorbell rang, and I went downstairs more warmly dressed than before, and with my history book in my hand. As I assumed, it was because Alice had arrived. Mom walked out of the foyer when I showed up, and Alice skipped over to hug me.

"Hey Heather, how are you feeling?" she asked, once she pulled away, obviously being a courier for her father.

"I'm feeling good, a little lethargic, but overall I'm good." I replied, motioning for her to follow me into the rarely-used dining room. We took our seats.

"So, Rose told me you were talking pretty enthusiastically with Demetri yesterday." she said, a mischievous glint in her golden eyes.

I glanced up to her through my bangs, "I can't say that. I was just curious, and he was going to answer a question regarding his reputation as a Casanova." I replied, turning to my notebook pencil in hand.

"His reputation? Oh, I can answer that." Alice replied giddily.

"I know you can Alice, but I wanted Demetri to answer. Its just something that I like. I like it when a person answers for themselves." I replied, opening my history book. "Anything you wanted to talk about before we begin the project?" I asked.

She pursed her lips, silent for a moment. "Yes." she said abruptly, "Shopping. I was wondering if you would like to go shopping with me?" I had to squelch the pride in me that was saying that she was subtly telling me that she hated my wardrobe. But she seemed to sense it anyways, and quickly amended. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I love your wardrobe, I think you have really good taste – and that's saying something if I say that. Its just something I do. I shop. I like shopping, and I was trying to invite you shopping not because I don't like the way you dress, but because I think that it would be cool if we went shopping together. As friends."

"Friendly shopping." I said, nodding my head. Good thing I hadn't gone with first instinct on that one. "Well, I thank you for the invite. But I'm not much of a shopper." her face remained just as enthusiastic. "I'm sorry, it's just, since my dad was in the Navy, and had four kids, a wife, and a home to take care of; I'm rather frugal. Meg is more of a compulsive shopper, and Erin – well, actually Erin is too. But I'm rather... well, I prefer to only go out when I need something." I explained.

Alice shrugged, "That's okay, Bella's the same way. Come on, Heather, it will be fun! Besides, it would be nice to have someone who also has a sense of style – other than Rose – to shop with. Please?" she pouted, her puppy-dog eyes causing my resolve to crumble almost instantly. The look was absolutely adorable.

"When?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." she replied quickly. "I already talked to your mom about the possibility." she told me. I gaped.

"Well, if she approved... sure, why not?" I replied, I have to admit, I actually was looking forward to it. It might be fun.

"Yay!" Alice cheered, clapping and bouncing in her chair. She was by far the most enthusiastic girl I had ever met.

"Alright, now that that's settled, lets get to work." I suggested, and with a 'okay' from Alice, we began.

Two hours later, we had read every paragraph in the book, and had even gotten my books on Russia from upstairs. We argued of certain aspects of the Russian Revolution, the causes, whether Anastasia Romanov might have survived, and whether or not we agreed with the instigators for the revolution. We took our notes, making sure to bring up certain pointers which may or may not have been needed – but we viewed as interesting. All in all, it was a good day, and Mom began banging in the kitchen to make lunch. Good, I was starving.

"Oh, look at the time." Alice suddenly said, "I really need to run, I promised that I would go to lunch with Bella and Rose." she said.

"Oh, okay, I was actually counting on you eating here – Mom makes killer lasagna, which is what I think is on the menu." I replied.

She shook her head, looking at her watch, "I think that my sisters will be showing up at any time, so it would probably be a good thing if I packed up." to emphasize her point the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Meg shouted from the other room, quickly running to answer the door. "Hello." she said to the person.

"Hi, we're here to pick up Alice for lunch." Bella's voice drifted into the room.

"Gotcha, they're in the dining room." Meg replied, no doubt motioning to the room and taking off, if I know my sister at all.

Sure enough, Rosalie and Bella entered the room moments later. "Hi Heather." Bella greeted. "Hows it going?"

"Good, we have decided that we disagree with the Russian Revolution, and that Anastasia Romanov may have survived – now all we have to do is write the report. Which brings me to: do you want to do it, or do you want me to do it...?" I looked at Alice.

"I can do it – or would you rather do it and I be the spokesman?" she asked.

"I'll do it, you can be the spokesman." I said quickly realizing just what would happen.

"Nervous in front of crowds?" Rosalie asked.

"Terrified of them." I answered.

Bella just laughed. "I'm sure not 'Terrified'." she said.

"Yes, 'terrified', Bella. I once played in front of a crowd, a group of people at a little talent show at the base in Germany, I played the violin – Beethoven. Well, uh, I messed up one note, it threw me off, and I walked out of the atrium sobbing. So no, no crowds for me." I told them.

Alice looked somewhat shocked, "Wow, I don't see you as that kind of a person." she finally said.

"I do." Rosalie replied, "But we need to go."

Alice stood up, getting her books and putting them in her bag. "Alright, how about this: I'll come and pick you up Monday morning, and we can discuss the report on the way? Or better yet, we can discuss it tomorrow?"

"Sounds good to me, though I probably won't have it done by morning, so Monday will work better." with that we all walked toward the door. Looking at the car parked in the front, I could see Jasper. Alice skipped over to the car and got in the passenger seat, greeting her boyfriend with a smile. Aww.

"See you tomorrow Heather." Bella called as she got in the back seat with Rosalie, I waved, and with a _vroom _they were off.

Practically starving, I went back in the house, immediately helping mom the kitchen.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"Marvelously. You know what? I think that I may find some friends here that won't abandon me so easily." I replied.

"That'll be good. By the way, did you know we're related to the Romanovs?" she asked, launching herself into a diatribe about our family history. Very interesting stuff – and no, I'm not being sarcastic, I actually find our family history interesting.

Alice, Bella, and Rosalie came to pick me up at nine o'clock, and by eleven we were in Portland. I have to admit, it seemed that the Cullens liked their speed, as Alice drove like a bat outta hell. Bella had managed – with Rosalie's help – to convince Alice to slow down, reminding her that there were laws out here in Oregon. I snickered, their bickering was like Erin, Meg, and I on a good day.

We made it to the mall in record time, and within five minutes of parking, we were already inside Dillards picking clothes. An hour and a half later, I was getting hungry – I had no idea how it was that they didn't complain of any hunger pains, and although I would have waited for a while, I couldn't go for very long before my stomach began growling. Bella looked at me curiously, then glanced at her watch.

"Hey, its 12:43, I'm going to go get Heather some food." she told the others. Rosalie looked up at Alice, who obliviously continued strolling the racks.

"I'll go with you, Alice we're going to get some food." Rosalie called to her heading-to-the-dressing-rooms sister.

"Alright, see you soon." Alice called back, finding a woman to open the dressing rooms for her. I giggled.

"Is she always like this?" I asked.

Bella and Rose looked at each other, "Yes, she is." Rosalie replied, "Now, what would you like?" it was decided that Chick-Fil-A would be the best, and soon I stood behind Bella as she gave the cashier my order.

"Anything else?" she asked, Rosalie shook her heads. "You sure?" they nodded.

"Yeah, that'll be it." Bella replied, paying her and motioning for me to sit down nearby to wait for my order.

"Don't you guys usually eat lunch?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not hungry." Rosalie replied.

"We're trying a new diet." Bella told me.

"But didn't you eat lunch yesterday?" I pushed.

They exchanged a look, "We did, but those were special circumstances." Rosalie answered. I nodded as they called my order, and soon I was sitting with my lunch – feeling slightly conscious of the fact that they were just watching me.

"You know what?" Bella seemed to have noticed my discomfort, "Rose, why don't we go to a few of these shops around here, so that Heather can find us easily, but we don't have to make her uncomfortable since we're not eating."

Rosalie shrugged, and although I protested, they said they didn't mind. Soon they were off to a nearby store. I was somewhat grateful, and finished my lunch rather quickly. I found them in no time flat, and we headed back to find Alice.

"Hello again." she greeted, her arm covered in a foot worth of clothes.

"Wow, need some help?" I asked, she giggled.

"No, I can manage, besides you should pick out some stuff for yourself." she said, placing her clothes on the counter with the cashier and telling her to hold them.

"Uh-oh." Bella said.

"You're about to become a Francie doll." Rosalie added.

"What does that mean?" I asked, hoping that didn't mean what I thought it would.

"It means that Alice never had Barbies as a kid." Rosalie replied, which only made me more worried.

Bella rolled her eyes, "It means that Alice is going to drag you all over the store, she's going to make you try on anything and everything that will look good on you – and insist you buy it." she explained.

My eyes widened, I knew I couldn't afford that – but at that moment, Alice skipped over to us. "Don't worry about it though. I won't make you pay for it." she said, taking my hand and leading me over to another section, "This is my treat."

Dear mother of God.

"No." I repeated for the tenth time already.

"Oh, come on Heather, you look good in it." Alice argued.

"I don't wear skinny jeans. Period. Exclamation point!" I insisted as Rose and Bella came back from looking around themselves.

"She doesn't like it Alice, and if she's anything like I think she is – she probably won't wear it." Bella told her, "Give this one up."

Alice pouted, hoping it would work on me – but I was set on this issue. I wasn't going to wear it. Absolutely not. "Fine." she said sharply, "I suppose you don't have to get it." her eyes abruptly glazed, as if she was looking right through me and at something else.

"Heather, how about you try this on?" Rosalie suddenly said, bringing my attention away from Alice and onto the rather cute jacket she had in her hands. I nodded, and headed back to the rooms when my phone began playing 'Movin' Out', meaning it was my dad. I turned back around, to see Alice was about fifty feet away, on her phone herself.

"Hello?" I answered.

_"__Heather, how is it going?" _my dad asked.

I looked down at my outfit, rolling my eyes "Its going pretty good. I'm probably coming home with a new wardrobe – and before you argue its, and I quote, 'Alice's treat'." I replied.

_"__You're allowing someone to do that. Interesting. However, that's not why I called." _I figured as much _"Listen, Wes' car is in the shop there in Portland. They just called him and told him it was done, could you drive it home for him?" _I heard him ask.

"Sure, no problem. Just let me let the girls know." that term 'girls' sounded awful at that point. They weren't girls... they were definitely not girls.

_"__Great, I'll see you soon." _Dad replied.

"See you soon. Bye." I hung up, Alice already waiting for me. "My dad wants me to pick up my cousin's car from the shop. My phone rang again. "Hello?"

_"__I forgot to tell you where it is." _my dad said from the other side. I snickered, writing down the address and putting it in my mobile GPS. _"Alright, bye." _

It was decided that Alice would drop me off at the auto mechanic shop, and Rose would ride with me till I got home. 'Just to make sure you get there okay.' she explained. I shrugged, I didn't mind a bit – and with that, Alice dragged me to another section of the store...

Three hours later we were on our way home, a two hour drive that meant that Rosalie and I got to know each other a bit better. I don't know how, but we got on the topic of children. "I've always wanted a child." Rosalie admitted, "I remember this one girl I knew, her name was Vera, she got married at eighteen. She had a baby, and I think that was the first time I ever felt jealousy." I smiled.

"I understand that one. I've always wanted a kid. I was always the one chosen to take care of everyone elses, but I had to give them back at the end of the day." I replied, "So I think I decided back then that I really wanted a kid – at least one." she chuckled. For once we could related to one another.

Suddenly, a person jumped in front of the car, just standing there. I swerved, narrowly avoiding the person, but spinning out of control. The car flipped, but a piece of iron kept me in my seat. I couldn't believe it – first the whole 'beaker exploding into my head' thing, and now an accident?

The car stopped moving, and through the ringing in my ears, I could hear metal being ripped. Looking over through my closing eyes I saw that it was Rosalie who was ripping through the mangled vehicle, jumping outside, and tearing through the frame that trapped me. Her hand ripped the seatbelt off of me as I blacked out.

I woke up sometime later to voices, but it sounded like I was hearing through water. Something cold was wrapped around me, holding some kind of cloth to my head.

_"__Is she okay?" _

_"__I don't know, Carlisle should be here soon. We need to stop this bleeding." _Bella perhaps? She must have been holding the cloth to my head as there were distinctly two arms around me.

_"__She's awake." _some guy said, but he was ignored.

_"__What was it?"_

_"__A nomad, he was hunting in our area." _another voice that was distinctly male.

_"__Didn't you see this coming psychic?" _another male, it almost sounded like Demetri, whoever it was they were pissed. _"You should have made her drive in your car. You could have avoided this!" _

_"__Watch it Volturi" _the second male growled, _"She can only do what she can do." _

_"__I did, that's why I sent Rosalie with her." _Alice. _"That's also why I called you. You were supposed to take care of him."_

_"__He was too fast for us." _

_"__Jasper, you need to leave. Your eyes are black." _Bella's voice said.

_"__Touch her, Hale, and I'll rip you apart." _

_"__I won't hurt her. I have control."_

_"__You better. Or else I'll –" _

_"__She's awake." _the first guy said once again.

_"__Heather, can you hear me?" _Bella.

'Yes.' I wanted to say.

_"__She can hear you." _

'How do you know that?' I thought.

_"__We need to get her to the hospital. She's losing a lot of blood." _Rosalie, it had to be. Now that I heard her, she was the one holding me.

_"__Heather?" _

I started to lose consciousness again.

_"__Heather? No, you need to stay awake." _I now recognized the voice as Edwards.

'I can't.'

_"__You have to." _

'I can't...'

I heard them yell my name once more, as I slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sorry, I know I put a cliffhanger, but the whole next chapter is a whole new concept... besides, curiosity killed the cat, and this whole thing is going to make Heather more curious than ever before. So, sorry about that.

**Queensly92: **this chapter is dedicated to you, my first labeled reviewer and the person who said "Hey, update cause I want to see what's next." :D So that's for that. I'm really happy that you like it.

Also, a huge thanks to T**heWallFlower92, katscratch2.0, winstonwolfe, **and **LadyCoraline **for following. I hope that I can live up to your expectations, and feel free to review, I'd love to hear all y'all's opinions. :D


	9. Chapter 8

**_A/N: I don't own twilight, and I am not posting this again. It just makes me sad. _**

* * *

_Beep... beep... beep... _where am I? _Beep... beep... beep... _am I dead? I tried to remember what happened. My thoughts were flying through my head with no meaning. A person. Squealing tires. Rosalie. Smashing metal. Blackness. The Cullens. A conversation. Blackness.

_"__The doctor told us to monitor her vitals, and administer Toredol when she seemed to need it. Though where she is, I'm not sure she feels pain." _a female voice said.

"My... mom's al – allergic to... Toredol." I tried to say, my voice feeling like I had swallowed sand.

_"__Did you hear that?" _another voice said, this one a little higher than the other.

_"__Lori, tell Dr. Cullen she's awake." _I heard the voice say.

'She's awake'. I had heard that before... Edward... Edward had said it. Edward had responded to me without me speaking. 'Stay awake' he said, I couldn't.

"You... can't... give her... Toredol. She'll... die." I tried saying.

_"__You're mom's allergic to Toredol?" _the voice said, a light pressure squeezing on my hand. The voice was garbled, fuzzy. _"She just woke up doctor." _

_"__Heather, can you hear me?" _a male voice said.

"Yeah." I muttered out.

_"__Alright, that's good. Now, I need you to open your eyes for me." _I did as ordered, opening my eyes ever so slightly. White-washed walls around me. "That's good, Heather. That's good." I looked over to see Dr. Cullen as one of the faces. "How are you feeling?"

I mentally checked – all my limbs were there, so that was a plus. My shoulder was killing me though. "I feel alright... my shoulder."

"It was dislocated, we had to set it again." Dr. Cullen answered, checking my pupils with a flashlight, "You've been unconscious for a few days. Thirsty?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"Yes, please." I replied, soon a cup was lifted to my lips and I drank heartily.

"Easy, easy." he told me, rubbing my head in a fatherly fashion before he took the cup away, and checked on the beeping machine – a heart monitor. "I've sent one of the nurses to get your family from the cafeteria."

I tried to piece what had happened in my head. I remembered shopping with Alice, Rose, and Bella. I got a phone call, dad wanted me to pick up Wes' car. I picked the car up, and was driving home. Rose and I talked about children... the pieces began to fall into place. The person in front of the car – 'You were supposed to take care of him'... Alice – I swerved. The car flipped, an iron arm stopped me from moving much. Rosalie (Was she okay?) had ripped the car apart. But how? What were Nomads? Why were they 'Hunting'? Why did, whoever, call Alice a psychic – 'Didn't you see this coming, psychic?' –? What was going on?

"Rose... she was..."

"She's alright. She was thrown out of the car as it tumbled, and didn't have many injuries." Dr. Cullen answered. "She's been watching over you ever since, right along with your family. I think in some way she feels guilty."

"She shouldn't do that." I replied.

"The fact that Rose feels guilt is surprising to all of us. She's not one to feel anything about anyone but her family – but she seems to have taken a shining to you." he said with a smile, "I'll tell you this: once you've won her loyalty, you've got it for life. I'd even venture enough to say she's already considered you like family."

"I'm happy to hear that, we didn't have the best meeting." I said, furrowing my brow as I couldn't get something out of my mind. "She pulled me out of the car."

"Yes, she did." he replied.

"She wasn't thrown." I insisted, my mind showing me distinctly that Rosalie had been in the car. "She ripped the car apart to get to me."

Dr. Cullen looked at me sympathetically. "You hit your head particularly hard. No one can understand why it is that the mind does what it does; but with such traumatic situations, it tends to come up with rather... fantastic images." he said.

I shifted in my bed, my lips pursed in frustration. "I know what it was I saw." I replied as sternly as I could.

"I'm sure you did." Dr. Cullen replied softly, "I'm sorry, Heather, I'm sure its rather frustrating for you that you saw something impossible. Rose was thrown."

I shook my head slowly, I knew I wasn't going crazy. However, Dr. Cullen was saved by any other persistence when my family came in.

"Oh, God, Heather, we thought you were gone for good!" my mom exclaimed with a worried tone, she placed a kiss on my brow, my dad was next, followed by my sisters.

"Its alright mom, I'm sorry I scared you."

"I'll leave you all alone." Dr. Cullen said from the side as my family pressed in around me. "Don't tire her, she needs some more rest. If you need me, just let the nurse know." and he was gone.

I was determined at that moment: I was going to find out just what had happened. Whatever it was... it wasn't normal.

* * *

Dr. Cullen made sure to stay out of my room for the next two days that I was in the hospital. Why that was, I'm not sure, though I had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with my curious nature. My family had told me that the most of the Cullen Clan had been looking after me since I got hospitalized, taking shifts to see when I would wake up. Ever since I woke, however, they hadn't been near me.

"Rosalie," my mom had said, "Although she looks very shallow and selfish – she was the one who stuck around, pretty much every day. Her and the other Cullen guy... Demetri is it?" Odd, why Demetri would be around me when I was unconscious was a mystery, but I let it pass. So far, everything about the Cullens was a mystery.

I began to wonder about my time in Astoria. I had only been here two weeks, and I had been admitted to the hospital twice, and it just turned out that it was when I was around the Cullens. Now, don't get me wrong, I have been hospitalized before, but not in such a short amount of time. The last time was when I was fifteen and got thrown by a horse, fracturing my ankle; I couldn't walk for a week.

This time, I was relatively unscathed. Other than another very nasty cut added to the growing collection on my head, I had a broken left wrist, and a case of whiplash. I also had a few minor cuts from the windshield shattering when Rosalie smashed it. It could have been worse, but that iron-like rod that held me back saved me from a more serious verdict. But where had it come from?

Placing myself back in the car, in my mind, I realized it had been Rosalie's arm. I began getting curious, more than I ever was before. Alice's strength when she prevented me from breaking my tail bone on the stones in my front yard; Rosalie's preventing me from flying out of the car, and her ability to – literally – rip the car apart; Demetri had crushed a pencil in his hand to powder – and that was just one thing: strength. As I have stated before, they didn't eat – which made itself even more obvious yesterday when I went to eat lunch and they were 'dieting'. They were freezing cold, as if they had spent all their days in a walk-in fridge. Everything was odd. Something was off, though I couldn't put my finger on it. It was then I decided to do a little research on the Cullens.

So, as soon as I got home, I pulled out my laptop, and decided to pay a visit to Mr. Google. Typing 'Dr. Carlisle Cullen' in the search engine. Nada. Nothing. Which, was odd. I mean, the guy was a genius, a doctor who was praised all through Astoria – and yet there was nothing on him. No record, no nothing. Now, before you begin to question whether or not I hadn't been thorough, I think you should know this. I am the research freak of the family, no matter what it is, if it can be found, I will find it. I once searched a million pages on our family name just to find out we were relations to Charlemagne thorough one of his little recorded bastard children. That explained my brother's bastard-like behavior. But, back to topic.

So I found nothing. Thinking again, I decided to try something else: 'inhuman strength'. Well, all I got on that one had to do with Superman and adrenaline rushes. Yeah, that didn't work. But I clicked on Wikipedia anyways, and scrolled through its 'superhuman strength' article. Feeling a bit discouraged at the fact that I couldn't find anything that made sense, I decided to click on the 'fictional characters with superhuman strength' link for grins.

Scrolling through the list, I came upon something that caught my attention due to its familiarity. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My old friend Jennifer used to watch it, always going on about how she loved the series. I vaguely remembered just what the vampires in the series were like, but to refresh my memory, I decided to look it up. Jen would've been proud.

Curiously, I noted that there were actually a few similarities with what I was looking up originally, and the characteristics of the vampire characters. I decided to look at the original vampire myths, just out of curiosity. To my shock, I soon found myself looking at the Wikipedia article with an open mouth and wide eyes as I read:

'They do not need other food, water, or even oxygen. They are sometimes portrayed as being unable to eat human food at all, forcing them to either avoid public dining or mime chewing and eating to deceive their mortal victims. The fictional vampire, however, often has a pale appearance, rather than the dark, or ruddy skin of folkloric vampires, and their skin is cool to the touch...'

I sat in my chair, completely flabbergasted. Seriously, I sat there for five minutes just staring at the screen and reading them over and over again. Eventually, the words sunk in, at which point I did a serious double take. I sincerely hoped that what I read wasn't true, that what I had stumbled upon just happened to be coincidence. But I couldn't deny the coincidences: the cold. The pale skin. The not eating. The strength... all there. I knew I'd gone pale, and my hands began shaking as they hovered over the keyboard with one thought on my mind: The Cullens were vampires.

Dear God, what had I gotten myself into?

* * *

Two days later I tried to drag my feet to get ready for school, perhaps I could even request to change my schedule around so as to avoid the Cullen kids. History could be moved, but that would mean I would have to not go with Emma – so would chemistry, again without Emma. Pre-Calc would have to be without Melissa. Could I really switch my entire schedule around just to avoid them? Even then, I wasn't sure I could. Alice would no doubt be curious, and just the thought made a chill go down my spine.

Yet, they seemed like such a contradiction. On the one hand, they were vampires, killing machines, no doubt quite enticed by my blood; on the other hand, they protected me, they became my friends, and Rosalie saved my life. I was confused. I remembered what Dr. Cullen said maybe I had just cooked this up in my over-active imagination along with my head injury. But I thought that avoiding them for a while, until I sorted out my thoughts, would be a good idea.

So when I reached History, I just gave Alice and Renesmee a curt wave and a tight smile. I couldn't bring myself to do more as I sat next to Emma. I almost panicked when I thought that we had to make our presentation, but calmed down when I remembered that I had lost a whole week to my little unconscious bout. However, Alice turned in her seat to talk to me.

"Hey, how are you doing?" she asked, genuine concern in her voice. I was clueless of how to answer her, when those teeth behind the sweet smile had probably sunk into necks very similar to mine. I shivered. "Are you cold?"

"A little." I replied, "I'm doing okay. My wrist is a little problematic, and my head still hurts. But other than that, I'm fine."

"That's good, dad said that he wanted to make sure everything was going okay with you." she replied, looking at my wrist in a cast.

"Yeah, its all good, thank you Alice." I knew I was slightly idiotic, I was already in too deep – what if they figured out that I knew their secret? Then again, I could be wrong, and just needed some drugs to kill my imagination. She smiled, and I cringed inwardly, slightly smiling back.

The rest of the class, I pretended as if I was unaware of Alice being there, I really didn't know what to do. When class was over, I quickly grabbed Emma's wrist and high-tailed it out of there.

"What is wrong with you?" my red-headed friend asked, I shook my head, and kept going. Chemistry was next, and when I entered the class, I couldn't help but notice that Edward had left the seat next to him open. I only hoped that he wouldn't notice that anything was different about me, that he wouldn't know what I knew about him and his family. Then again, that was if my suspicions were correct...

"Good morning, Heather." he said tersely, his gold eyes looking as if he was staring through me, "How are you?" you could slice the tension between us with a knife.

"I'm okay. You?" I asked, my mind flashing back to the last time we were in this class, I'd gotten my head sliced. Oh, God, that was so stupid of that kid! If only he knew just what was right in front of him. If he'd known just how dangerous it was to hurt me, he wouldn't have put that potassium in with the water.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Edward asked me, concern lacing his voice. Much like Alice's had been. Maybe I was being an idiot, maybe I was wrong. If I was, then was I risking these marvelous people who had already proven to be the most loyal and friendliest of friends? If I was wrong, was I really going to cut off the relationship, the friendship, that I had built with Alice, Bella, Rosalie and even Edward? So what if it was only a week? I felt as if they had been my friends forever. Was I really going to toss that away on a figment of my imagination?

"Yeah, I'm fine." yet in the back of my mind, I couldn't stop that little voice whispering _'You know what he is...' _did I really? What if I was wrong? Once again, the voice replied: _'There are too many coincidences for you to be wrong.'_

"You remind me of Bella sometimes." Edward suddenly said, "She used to be so accident prone, before – well, before she became a little more graceful." I vaguely wondered if he was originally going to say 'She was clumsy before she became a vampire'. Edward's golden eyes suddenly snapped up to mine, worry clouding his features. Then they hardened, and for a moment I wondered if he somehow knew what I knew.

"Really? I can't see Bella that way. Or any of you for that matter." I replied outwardly. "You're so... graceful. Like cats." Yeah, sure, cats who are stalking around a clueless mouse. Were they just waiting for a good time to get me alone?

Edward shook his head. "Well, we're not what you think." he said, looking very intently in my eyes, as if to say: You have no idea what we are. I wouldn't be surprised if he was plotting my death with that gaze. He moved close to me to get a tool to complete – whatever experiment it was, I wasn't paying enough attention – and I jumped in surprise. He chuckled, "You're so skittish today. Its not like I'm going to bite." My eyes widened when he added, "Much"

He had no idea just how impressive that statement was on my already frazzled mind. It was almost as if he knew that I was considering taking drugs to keep myself quiet. My God, my heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour.

"Just a little under the weather still. My brain is still a little... frazzled from getting in the accident." I replied, all the while wondering when it was they were going to kill me.

"Yes, I'm sure you are." he said, leaning close to me, he whispered in my ear. "As for the second thing: I don't think Demetri would let us kill you." if my eyes could bug out of my head, I'm sure they would've. What. The.?

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied, opening my chemistry book and flipping to the page that he had his open to.

"Sure you don't." he said with a smile, turning to his work. I suppose that was to tell me that he wasn't planning on talking to me anymore. When the bell rang, Edward shot out of his seat and walked at an extremely fast pace out of the classroom. I don't know how anyone else didn't notice. Maybe I was just more prone to paying attention, now that I knew that there was more to the Cullen's than met the eye.

I went to Pre-Calc, to find Demetri not there. Melissa wasn't either, which made me wonder just what was going on. I sat with Jeff, and he was more than willing to answer my questions – well, after he had inquired a great deal about my health.

"She took off with her boyfriend a few nights ago, back when you were in the hospital unconscious. Sent her parents a note saying not to try to find her, apparently he's no longer at Portland either." he answered.

"Eloped? I thought that only happened in books." I replied.

"It does." he replied, "But apparently she thought it would be 'romantic'. I don't think I'll ever understand girls."

"I refuse to dignify that with a comment." I stated, diving into my Pre-Calc.

When I left the class, I honestly didn't feel like going to the cafeteria. Not when I knew that the Cullens would be putting on a charade and pretend that they were normal people. Instead, I walked out to the volleyball court outside, as it was abandoned in search for food.

However, I didn't get far as my arm was locked in a vice-grip and I was being dragged in the direction of the doors. Looking up, I saw it was Demetri who held onto me with only four words on his lips: "We need to talk."

Dear God, I was going to die...

* * *

So... am I moving too fast? If so, let me know and I'll revise. Its probably the one chapter since chapter numero uno that I'm nervous about.

**Lovelis:**I know, she's a danger magnet. I hope you like this chapter, but like i said, if I'm going to fast, let me know - I can slow down some.

Reviews?


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:**Thank you to** Piquel**e that told me that you loved the story because of how elaborate it is :D You made my day my friend. I was beginning to worry that perhaps I was *too* elaborate or something... but now I see that its a good thing. So thank you.

On to the next chapter... hopefully I won't be so nervous after this one...

* * *

Demetri lead me to Edward's silver Volvo, opened the passenger door, and told me to get in. I honestly wanted to fight, but I knew I'd be helpless – if I was right to start with, and the Cullens really were vampires. He got in the drivers seat, started the vehicle and drove off.

"We're not supposed to leave campus." I said quietly, not really knowing what to do or say.

"You have a signed slip to leave if you want." he told me.

"No I don't." reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper which happened to be a leave slip. "I guess I do. Where are we going?"

"You'll see." he answered tersely, making it clear I shouldn't speak anymore.

We went on in silence, driving out of town. Demetri pulled off onto a dirt road, and went down a while. My imagination was beginning to run wild, and my heart was pounding in my chest. I felt like crying, knowing that I probably faced death. I didn't know how they figured out that I knew, but I was certain that they did. I only hoped that it was painless. The car slowed at a camping site, and Demetri turned the car off, got out of the car, and came to my side.

Wordlessly, I got out as he was signaling for me to do, and I now stood before him completely terrified.

"Who told you?" he asked.

"Who told me what?" I replied.

"Who told you what we are?"

"No one." I answered.

"Carlisle?" he guessed.

"No one, I said. I figured it out on my own."

Violet eyes looked confused. "How could you figure it out on your own?"

"You guys don't eat. You're ice cold. You don't breath. You have inhuman strength – proven by Rosalie tearing the car apart to get me out, and you crushing a pencil to dust. All-in-all, you're not like everyone else." I replied, "Quite honestly, I Googled it. Vampires are well known in modern-day literature."

Demetri's eyes were filled with pain. "You weren't supposed to find out. I tried so hard to make sure you never knew. That's why I tried to keep my distance. There were so many arguments with the Cullens, I wasn't willing to bring you into this world, but Alice insisted that it was going to happen whether I wanted it or not. Either you would figure it out, or someone would tell you. She set up every talk, I had to tell – " he stopped short, "I knew that if you knew, it would have destroyed you."

I gulped, closing my eyes, not wanting to see what would happen. I knew I was going to die when I found out the truth. I could feel my eyes brimming with tears as I pictured my family, and how this place was supposed to be the one place where we could finally be happy without the slave-like mindset of the military. "Are you going to kill me?" I asked, my voice wavering.

A cool finger wiped at my eye, causing me to open them, looking into his violet ones. "No." he answered, "No, I won't." my tears kept coming, "Don't cry, _piccolo, _please don't cry."

"Why not? I know what you are, that means I have to be destroyed, right?" I replied, unable to stop the wet drops from rolling down my cheeks, but he kept wiping them away.

"I won't destroy you, nor will I let anyone else destroy you." he said sternly, "I simply won't."

"I don't understand."

"There are a lot of things I can't explain yet, just the fact that I am a thing of legend if I think enough for one day." he smiled wryly. "If I told you everything, then I would be subject to certain laws that we have in our world. The fact that you know is enough to condemn you."

"Then what are you going to do?" I asked.

He looked at me, the pad of his thumb rubbing over my cheekbone. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" I repeated.

"No. I can't, you see. Your life is of the utmost importance to me – for more reasons than one." he said, obviously keeping something to himself. "You almost did die, in that accident. I couldn't find the damn nomad before he ran in front of your car. I was furious, furious because my incompetence had put us all in danger – including you. You because you almost died; and us because we almost gave into our thirst. I almost tackled Jasper, thinking that he would attack you."

"I know. I heard. And actually, that was when I really began to get suspicious." I said, "Alice was so adamant that I ride with Rosalie, acting really strangely. And then Rosalie yanked the car apart. Though what really got it was when I woke up while you guys were talking – Nomads, hunting, Jasper's control; none of it made sense."

"So you were awake for that." he said slowly, "Edward told me you were. He also told me today that you were wondering how it was that he didn't kill you when you were bleeding last week."

I was puzzled, "How did he know that?" I asked him.

Demetri smiled for the first time since I came in contact with him that day, "He's... telepathic." my eyes widened considerably, making him laugh. "Yes, he's said some interesting things about what you think."

"Holy..."

"No, not really." Demetri replied with a smirk.

"So he knows everything about me?" I asked.

"Pretty much. He and Alice have been working together, they knew that I would have to tell you everything in the end. That's why he told me today." he replied.

"Why you?" I asked, "Why not Bella, or Rosalie, or Alice? I mean, I've talked to them a lot more than you."

He seemed reluctant to give me an answer, "Maybe I'll tell you later. But for now... you wanted to know my story, I believe." he took my hand, leading me over to one of the picnic tables, and sitting me down. "But first, I believe you are in need of some nourishment. And I'm sure you have questions." he said, suddenly disappearing, I heard the car door open and there he was. Then it shut, and he was right before me again with a picnic basket in his hands – he set it out on the table.

"What... was... that...?" I gasped out.

Demetri smiled, "Inhuman strength, and speed." he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I reached for the container of – spaghetti was it? – "Allow me, Signorina." he said, passing me the container. I reached for a thermos, but he quickly snatched it out of my hand to pass me a bottle which had lemonade in it. "You don't want this, trust me."

"Why?"

He looked at me, "Well, lets put it this way: I don't eat normal human food so..."

"OH, right, yeah, okay. Gotcha." I replied quickly, laughing in slight nervousness, understanding just what he was saying. I cringed. "Just out of curiosity, why did you bring that when I'm around?"  
"Because you're around, I need to keep my thirst at bay. Spending too much time with you might be... bad for your health"

"Translation: hanging out with me means I might just die due to lack of blood flowing through my veins?" I said sarcastically.

Demetri looked up at me, "Yes." he said, a very somber tone to his voice. "But that's not going to happen. I have enough self-control to prevent myself from killing you."

I nodded, wondering just how crazy I must be to be having a conversation like this so flippantly. "Demetri?" he looked up, "Can you tell me why it is that you have violet eyes?"

He paused, his eyes darting between me and the thermos in his hand, "They're naturally a color which would probably frighten you. But I'm trying to remedy that." he said, as if he were telling himself something else.

"So, why violet?"

"Because that's the color that comes out with blue contacts." he deadpanned. Now, I'm an artist, I know what colors mix with blue to create that color. So it wasn't hard to figure out what color his eyes were.

"So, your eyes are red?" I queried tentatively.

"Yes." was the simple answer.

"Why are the Cullen's gold then?" I asked, _verdammt, _I couldn't remember the last time I had so many questions.

"Because of their diet." he answered simply.

"I don't get it."

"They don't drink from humans..." he replied.

We were quiet a bit as I ate my food. "Demetri?" he turned to me, closing up his thermos. Really, that was creepy, you're out with a human who happens to have the same stuff from the thermos pumping through her veins. It was slightly unnerving. "Can you take out the contacts?"

The subjects in question widened. "Why?"

"Because, I want to see your eyes, without the falsity." I replied.

He stared at me for about a minute and a half, almost wondering if I were serious, and if I was seriously insane. Finally he sighed, ducking his head, he reached a finger up to his eyes. Sure enough, two _blue _contacts were on his fingertips when he was done. "You're sure you want to see this?" he asked.

"Yes." he tilted his head back up, and for a moment I actually was frightened. His eyes were blood-red, and quite frankly I wasn't expecting that. "They really are red."

"You're frightened." he stated.

"No I'm not."

"Then why is your heart beating so fast that I can hear it quite clearly?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

I mentally told my heart to calm down, all the while slowing my breathing. "I'm fine, its just a little different."

"Do you want me to put the contacts back in?" he asked.

"No. No, I'll get used to it. I am tired of being ignorant of what's really going on around me." I replied, turning to my spaghetti. He nodded, and sat beside me sipping his – no, I didn't really want to think about the fact that that same stuff was what kept me alive. "You said that the Cullens had a different 'diet'. That they didn't drink from humans... what do they _drink _from then?" I choked on the word 'drink', this was getting weirder and weirder.

"Animals. They're like vegetarians." he replied smoothly, I could feel my face getting paler and paler, picturing Demetri killing humans like myself, a vampire – this was really bad. "Heather, are you alright?" he asked, placing a cold hand on my face.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." I said weakly, swatting his hand away. "Just give me a moment. I'm just a little light-headed due to the entire situation."

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have known in the first place." he said, "Though, you did open Pandora's Box when you began wondering what was wrong with us."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You're probably not going to like this." he replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some notebook paper. He opened of the piece, and my jaw dropped. On the top, in my attempt at cursive was a very neat 'The Cullens'. The piece of paper that was missing from my notebook.

"You took it? How?"

He shifted on the table, "I snuck into your room while you had dinner that evening. It was the first warning sign, and the first time that Alice told me that I really needed to start talking to you." he confessed.

I tried to regulate my breathing, "How long have you been going in and out of my room?"  
"Not very long." he replied, "Just that night, when I found this open in your notebook, and one other time..."

"My first night from the hospital after the beaker incident." I replied.

"I had to make it clear that you were off-limits to another vampire. You'll find that one of your shirts is missing, a simple black one." I was beginning to get pissed. "I'm sorry, I knew you'd be upset."

"I'm more than upset." I hissed, "I'm livid. You snuck into my room, my haven, my private little domain, and you took things of mine when we weren't even on a speaking basis!" I shrieked. "I'm a little more than upset, Demetri."

He hung his head, "It was to keep you safe."

"Any other times you were in my room?"

"No."

"No?" I repeated, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I kept out of your room due to the fact that I didn't want to risk you knowing that I had gone in your room to begin with. Besides, I'm not some creepy-stalker type. Even though you are interesting to watch while you sleep – and, no I didn't watch you, it was to get the shirt." he said quickly, not letting me interrupt.

I calmed a bit, "You promise you never watched me sleep?" I asked.

"I swear it." he replied.

I nodded, "Alright. Though don't think I'm very pleased with the fact that you were in there at all."  
"I am perfectly clear you aren't." he replied, "But when I found this." he referred back to the paper, "I proposed that we leave, that it was time to move. I didn't want you digging any deeper. I wanted you to forget you ever met the Cullens, or myself, and never pry into something that could kill you again. Felix was the one that stopped me, unfortunately."

"Felix? Melissa's Felix?" I asked, "Oh my God, she's with a vampire right now isn't she?" I began to panic, did she even know who she had run away with.

"Yes she is, and she knows. She's marrying him as we speak, and they're going back to Italy." he answered. "You won't see her for a while."

"Why Italy?" I asked, "What is in Italy?"

"The Volturi." he answered.

"The who?"

"The most powerful vampire clan in our world. They uphold the law, enforce it, make sure that no vampire exposes us to humans like yourself. That's another thing I should probably tell you – I'm not a Cullen." he said, "My name happens to be Demetri Volturi, and I belong to that family. Ironic that I should expose our kind to a human, when I've been one of the enforcers of protecting us from your kind for a thousand years."

That explained the almost-slip-up when I first met him. "Weird." I replied, looking into his now-red eyes (though I could pick out flecks of gold in them, odd) "Wait, a thousand years?" I repeated, my eyes wide as saucers.

"Yes, Heather, I'm a thousand years old – well, almost." he explained.

"You said you were going to tell me about yourself. I think now would be a good time." I said, "After all, you know everything there is to know about me, and I am completely clueless about you."

"I understand. Well, I was born in –" his phone suddenly rang, and reaching into his pocket with mild irritation he answered it. "Yes?... Yes, Alice, she's here... yeah... she knows... what?... I don't want to hear that... right now?... I understand... I'll see you later." and he hung it up.

"Serious?" I asked.

"Yes, we need to leave the area. There's a group of vampires in the woods around here, and Alice just saw us running into them if we stay any longer." he replied, packing the basket in three seconds, and taking my arm. Everything about him screamed dangerous as he lead me back to the car. I buckled in just as he was turning it on. "It would be very dangerous if we ran into them, you being human and all, I can only protect you from so much. And quite frankly, I don't fancy being outnumbered."

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'Alice _saw_ a group of vampires'?" I asked.

He nodded, "She's psychic." he answered, backing the vehicle out of its spot and speeding away.

"So where are we going now?" I asked.

"Back to school, lunch hour is over." he answered.

"That's twice we've been interrupted right when you were about to tell me about yourself." I huffed.

He smirked, and quite frankly I was happy I was sitting down cause I'm sure that kind of look made women weak in the knees. For me it made butterflies take flight in my stomach. "Nice to know you want to know." he answered, "Maybe you can come over to the Cullen house later this week." he replied, and soon enough we were in the school parking lot. "By the way, no one can know about what happened, _cara mia_." he warned.

"I know that, Demetri. That's why I thought you were going to kill me." I deadpanned.

"Well, now you know I will never kill you." he said.

"Demetri?" he turned to me, his red eyes boring into my brown. "First: thank you for the marvelous lunch. Second: thanks for telling me what was going on. And third..." I smiled slightly, "You should put your contacts back in."

He looked in the rearview mirror, swearing in Italian before he got the offending things to put back in. Soon enough, I was looking back into violet eyes. "Thanks for letting me know." he said.

"Can I ask you one more question?"

"You just did." he pointed out, ever the smart-ass.

"Why is it that you can't kill me?" I asked.

He paused, looking between my eyes, "Because I need you." he answered vaguely, getting out of the vehicle. I had no choice but to follow suit, and follow him into the school. When we entered the hallway, I could see all the heads turn in our direction.

"Oh, God, I hate being the center of attention. Everybody watching me – us." I said.

Demetri smirked sexily – I can't believe I even thought that word – leaning ever so close to my ear, I was sure my heart would pound out of my chest. "Well, when they do, it does leave the most adoring blush on your cheeks." damn, he was flirting with me now. "I like it. Its better than the pale you were before."

"Compared to you, I'm tan." I said.

"Yes, well... death does that to one." he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. He pulled away, a smirk on his face. "I'll see you later." he said, speeding off to class at a much slower rate than when he had gotten my lunch.

Well... I didn't expect my day to turn out like this, that's for sure.

* * *

Okay... what do you guys think? God, I'm so nervous. I think I'm moving too fast.. am I moving too fast? Reviews?


	11. Chapter 10

As soon as I arrived at English Lit, I was immediately ushered between Bella and Rosalie in the back. Bella beamed, the large smile on her face absolutely warming; but Rosalie looked out the window at the clouds, completely ignoring me.

"So, you found out, eh?" Bella whispered from my left.

"Yeah. I just put two and two together." I whispered in reply.

"Its dangerous now. More dangerous than you know." Rosalie whispered in my ear.

"I know, Demetri told me." I replied.

She scoffed, concern flashing in her golden eyes, "I doubt he told you the whole story." she said, turning her attention to the class. "He wouldn't want to frighten you away."

"I guessed what you are, he confirmed it. And he told me about his... diet." I replied, she looked over at me, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, Heather, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into." she shook her head, "I wish you knew, you wouldn't have come near us if you did."

I shrugged, "Well, its too late to turn back now. I'm past the point of no return." I replied.

"Not yet." she stated with a strange sense of determination, writing down a note on her notepad as if to tell me that we weren't going to talk about it any more for now.

"Don't worry about it Heather." Bella said from my other side, taking my warm hand in her cold one, "Everything will be explained in further detail later on." and with that, we all paid closer attention to the class.

* * *

When class was over, I waved goodbye to Bella and Rosalie, and went to P.E.;quickly joining my volleyball friends, who were all pleased to see me.

"So, I hear you went out to lunch with Demetri Cullen." Tasha hinted as we assigned positions.

"You could say that." I replied, "But I'm surprised that news got around that fast."

"Well, you are the new girl." Becca added, "And he is the most eligible bachelor in the school – and he made it quite clear he enjoyed your company when you guys walked in the door."  
"I thought you had to be at least thirty to be a 'eligible bachelor'." I replied, mentally smirking as I knew that Demetri was definitely more than thirty. "Besides, we're not going out. He wanted to show me around a bit, as I have been in the hospital more days than I have been able to sightsee."

"Where'd you go?" Lucy chimed in.

"He took me to see a little trail about twenty minutes from here. Picnic area, all that good stuff. My brother and cousin wanted to know if there was any of that in the area, and so I told them I would find out – so Demetri showed me." I answered, it actually was true. Wes and Ken had been talking about that just that morning.

"So you had a picnic? Like a date?" Becca prodded.

"Well, yes, sorta – but not a date." I replied.

"Honey, when a guy takes you out on a picnic, it _is _a date." Tasha informed me.

"Not a date." I insisted, I mean, honestly, it _wasn't _a date. More like: 'I know that you know something, let me make sure you aren't going to tell the whole world that I'm a vampire.' thing. Definitely not date-worthy.

"Sure, believe that all you want. But when you guys are official, I will sit back and say I told you so." Tasha replied with a proud look on her face.

"As will I." Becca chimed in.

"Well, if that is the case, then I give you full permission to say it." I replied as Mr. Stanton blew his whistle to inform us of the beginning of the class. We quickly assumed our positions, getting ready for the match.

Emma watched the whole thing with interest, "Well, I'll say this, Heather. If you did snag him, then you are one fortunate girl." she said from beside me.

"Emma, I haven't 'snagged' him. I barely know him. He just wanted to show me around, and chat. No snagging needed." I replied, getting a little irate that everyone was trying to say that I was going out with Demetri. I wasn't, he had just been chosen by the family to explain everything to me... whyever that was I wasn't sure.

"Well, just be careful. Nicole told you about his reputation, and that has to do with what he did to her sister." Emma warned.

That had my attention. "What did he do to her sister?" I asked.

Instantly, my friend shook her head, trying to say that she shouldn't have said anything at all. "Its not my story to tell. I'm sorry, I can't." and returned her attention to the ball that was heading for her head. The discussion was over, but my curiosity wasn't satisfied.

* * *

When school was over, I looked out to the parking lot, expecting to find the family van waiting for me, my mom all ready to inquire about my day as I shook the water droplets out of my hair. To my surprise, however, I found Demetri waiting outside the doors with an umbrella in his hand – the downpour was enough to soak me through, I knew that much.

"Alice called your mother, she said one of us would drive you to the hospital, and then home, due to the weather conditions. Its safer this way." he explained, opening the door to the Volvo. "Edward has allowed me to borrow it for the day, seeing as Alice saw that I would be explaining all the little details of my life. She thought we may want some privacy." with that, he ran around the car, getting in the driver's seat. "So, we're going to see the good doctor first, and have him make sure that everything is okay with you. Does that make sense?"

"Yep." I answered, "I want him to look at my wrist, its rather painful."

Demetri reached over me into the glovebox, "Here take one of these." he instructed passing me a bottle of pills. Tentatively I took one, hoping that Dr. Cullen wouldn't have an issue with it afterwards. "Alice told me your wrist would be throbbing, and had Carlisle put those in there." he answered my unspoken question.

"Gotcha, thanks." I replied, "Though that brings me to a question I've been wondering about"

"I'm listening"

"You said that Edward was telepathic, and Alice is psychic. Do all vampires have... abilities?" I wasn't quite sure what they called them.  
"No, not all of them. Abilities are usually traits which a human has before they're turned, somehow when they are turned however, the abilities take on a supernatural form." he explained, "Alice used to have precognitive dreams. Edward always knew just what a person would probably be thinking about. Jasper was charismatic which caused for him to be able to calm others easily. Bella liked to keep things to herself. And I always found it easy to find things, now I'm a tracker."

Okay, so... they all had powers. "Tracker?"

"I can find a person using the... uh, well, its kind of hard to explain... the flavor I guess? Point is: I can find anyone in the world, just by picking up their minds."

"Anyone?"

"As long as I have come in contact with them at least once, or come in contact with someone who has come in contact with them – yes." he said.

"Fascinating." I said simply. I mean, what else do you say to something like that? "So I knew that Alice and Edward were psychic and telepathic. What are the others?"

Demetri smirked, "Well, Bella is a shield, she can block any abilities which have to do with the mind – that's why I can never track her or anyone she's currently shielding. Jasper can control emotions, you know, make you calm when you feel like you're about to explode, those kinds of things – I guess you call him empathic." he told me.

"What about the other Cullens?" I asked, "Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle."

"They have no abilities. Well, not unless you count incredible beauty, enhanced strength, and endurable compassion abilities." he said, "There are other vampires that have powers, but I'm not getting into that right now."  
"I wouldn't want you to." I replied, "As we didn't finish our conversation from earlier..." however we were by this time in the parking lot of the hospital.

"As much as I would love to continue it: we don't have the time as we are going in to see Carlisle. However, I promise to tell you as soon as we're alone." he told me, making sure to hold my arm steady when we walked over a patch of ice. "Don't want you to acquire more injuries before you go in, do we?" he explained as we walked inside.

Once more, I was in a white room of a hospital – one of the places I hated. The others were banks, DPS, and hardware stores. Why? Because hospitals have never held a good connotation, banks are filled with crooks, DPS is just annoying, and hardware stores are completely boring unless I have DIY project I'm doing. Yet, here I was. _Verdammt. _

The door opened, to reveal Dr. Cullen – and although I knew that he was a vampire, and that he was posing to be the father of my friends – I must admit that I still found him handsome. Then again, I found all the Cullen men handsome. "Good morning, Heather." he greeted gently.

"Good morning, Dr. Cullen." I wondered if he was going to mention the whole 'me finding out' thing.

"Demetri tells me your wrist was in pain." he said, as if he didn't know already.

"Yeah, it is. I just thank God I don't use my left one like I do my right. Otherwise I'd be screaming right now." I joked, he chuckled warmly.

"Yes, well, that would have been harder for you. Fortunately, however, your right only had a minor adjustment which I made while you slept – _its _not giving you pain, right?" I shook my head as he examined the cut on my head, then my wrist. "It looks like its just the fact that the pain meds wore off – you did take them this morning?" I bit my lip, I hadn't as a matter of fact. "You have to take them if you don't want to be in pain."

"I know, I just forgot. Got some pretty interesting news, and it threw me for such a loop that I forgot to take them." I wanted to see how much he knew.

He smiled, "Yes, so I heard. Though I expected you'd find out. You were rather curious when you came in the other day. I knew that even though I didn't tell you anything, you'd figure it out on your own. You're a smart girl." he complimented, flipping through my file. "But I'm glad you found out. It makes life easier for us."

"I'm sure." I replied, "Dr. Cullen, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Heather, go ahead." he replied freely.

I gulped, how do I word this? "So, Demetri said that if I found out that I'd be -"

"I know." I didn't need to finish, "You must understand, Heather, Demetri comes from a place where they make it clear that no one should know. They make it clear all over our world, but they make it clearer in Volterra. You finding out was the one thing that Demetri didn't want you to do, because if they find out, then your life is no longer your own. He didn't want to put _you _through that."

"You're speaking in riddles." I replied, he smiled, pointing to his shoulder – over which sat a camera. "Gotcha."

"When you come by the house, everything will be explained in further detail." he stated, closing my file, "Well, I'll see you whenever you come by the house. I'll take the stitches out then, and we'll check on your wrist." he went to the door, opening it for me to go outside. "Have a good day, Ms. Riley."

"Thanks Dr. Cullen." I replied, walking out to the waiting room where Demetri sat nonchalantly reading a magazine. When he saw me, he bolted up quickly.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded, and he met me at the door which he opened for me, then stayed by my side all the way out of the hospital. When we were back in the car he exhaled, driving out of the parking lot. "That was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." he said.

"Why?"

"A hospital filled with bleeding people. Its bad enough just having you in the car – the thirst, I mean, not you." he turned to me, his eyes the coal black that I saw the first day I met him.

"Your eyes are black. What does that mean?" I asked.

He turned to me, "When we're thirsty, they go black." he explained.

"Were you thirsty last week, when you first saw me? Cause they were black then." I replied.

"No." he replied, "And yes."

"I'm confused."

"I wasn't used to all the scents of school. I'd become immune to it over the two years I've been here, but it was the first day of school – its always the hardest for me because I just get the urge to kill everyone in the classroom." he told me.

"This conversation isn't odd at all." I tried telling myself, speaking it aloud, he chuckled.

"Yes, it is." he replied, "You're talking to a vampire about how his thirst works – I'd say your in above your head with the oddity of it all."

I glared at him, "You don't need to make this harder for me to talk about than it already is." I stated. He returned the glare, but his was more of amusement as the red seeped back into his eyes.

"Where would you like to eat?"

"Home actually, my mom is making moussaka and I want to be there." I replied.

He smirked, "You like that dish?" he asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing, its just funny to me. What's your favorite food?"

"Would I be cheesy if I said Italian?" I asked. He shrugged, "Alright, I like Italian. Chinese comes second, Greek third, and every other follows – with Mexican last."

He looked offended, "You like the Chinese better than the Greeks? I'm never speaking to you again."

"Oh? Well then you can just drop me off at my house and go back to your non-confrontational self." I replied, he shook his head, "Alright, turn off your phone."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want us to get interrupted again." I said, "Alice interrupted us last time, and I don't fancy having you start talking only to have her interrupt again." He did as requested, and soon the phone was off and in my hot little hands – literally. "Now, you were going to tell me your story." I said.

Demetri smirked, "Ah, hence the phone. Alright." he cleared his throat unnecessarily. "Well, I was born in Athens, around 1027 give or take a few years – we didn't keep dates very well back then, despite the fact that we were a more modern civilization – however, ahem. My father was a tradesman, and I, being the tradesman's son, was bound to inherit the business one day. He owned a dockyard, on my twenty-third birthday, he decided to send me to Egypt to work out a tradeline, as he couldn't do it over the distance as easily – I trust you're understanding what I'm saying here?"  
"You're dealing with a history geek. I understand." I replied, wanting him to just continue.

"Alright, well, when I was young, I was very talented at finding things for my mother – who was the opposite and had the talent of losing them. I happen to have been an only child, due to the fact that my mother was unable to have children after me – so I was somewhat spoiled. You once mentioned that I had a reputation here, well, I do – I did back then as a matter of fact. But after your parents lose six children on either side of you, they don't punish you for your wrongs as much. I was well known for being the rowdy son of Nico the tradesman. Wine, women, and song were my pleasure." he chuckled, "I know that me telling you this makes no sense right now, but it will later."

"It makes sense, I asked for everything, that is included." I replied.

He smiled, "Well, I was a little too out of control I'm afraid, so my father decided to send me to Egypt, and that's where I went. I arrived in Cairo, remember this is about 1050, where I worked out the business transaction. However, I foolishly decided one night to explore Cairo without anyone with me – well, maybe not without _anyone _with me, the sheikh had a very nice harem of concubines, which I had foolishly seduced during my stay – he could have killed me just for that. Anyways, I was with one of the young women, when we stumbled across a man who started telling me that he saw me as very gifted, I thought he was some kind of magician or gypsy or something, his name was Amun. I didn't think of what he really might have been, not that knowing would have helped. But I never expected his little trip to an ancient temple was anything more than a fun thing to do. As soon as we arrived, I was led to a room with a large slab, which would serve as my bed for the next few days, and bitten. I stayed in that room until my transformation was complete." he looked over at me. "When it was over, Amun led me to a separate chamber, where he had kept the girl from the night before."  
"You killed her." I stated, piecing it together. Just picturing it in my mind was somewhat unnerving.

"The sheikh never knew what happened to her, I suppose it was better that he didn't." his red eyes, as he had taken out the contacts, looked into mine questioningly. "Do you want me to continue?"

I nodded, "I suppose I didn't expect this." I said.

"I know you didn't, if you want I can stop."

"No,no, go ahead, you're already this far." I replied, I actually was pretty curious for the rest.

Demetri nodded as the car pulled up to my house, "We're here though."

"I'm sure you can continue."

He shrugged, "Well, there's not much after that anyways. I stayed with Amun and his wife for fifty years before we were invited to Volterra for their annual ball. When Aro met me, and found out about my power, he had one of the guard – Chelsea, who has the ability to manipulate bonds – forge bonds between myself and him, and break the ones I had with Amun. At the time, I had no idea, I thought that I just liked it there, and that I felt a strange pull toward the three kings – but I've figure it out by now. So, I left Amun, who was very upset, but understood what had happened to make me suddenly lose my ties to him. I took up residence with the Volturi, and have stayed there ever since." he finished.

I could only nod in interest, "Why did you come here? With the Cullens?"

His body went rigid, and I could feel the tension in the car as if it was rolling off of him. "I was sent on a mission." he said abruptly probably two minutes later.

"Oh? What kind of a mission?" I asked, wondering if he would tell me at all.

Red eyes turned to mine, guarded. "I can't tell you. Besides, you probably don't want to know." he said cryptically, looking up toward the door of my house, where Wes could be seen, arms crossed. "Your family is waiting for you. You really should go."

I got the distinct impression that we weren't going to be talking about this subject anytime soon, and probably any other subjects that had to do with his life. The walls which were up to protect me from what he was, had returned. "Alright, I'll see you soon though?"

"Yes." he answered as I opened the door and got out.

"You were in there a long time." Wes stated when I got to the door. "What were you doing?"

"He was telling me his story, can I really interrupt?"

"Knowing you?" Wes replied, "No."

The car behind us took off and sped down the street, leaving me wondering just what on earth he could have meant when he said he was on a mission that he couldn't tell me about. However, when I reached my room – whether it was out of spite or plain irritation – I made sure to lock my window.

I didn't want any late visitors tonight.

* * *

Well? I'm sorry I kept you waiting, but I had to do some research about the time period that Demetri was born in. And when I do research, I **do research. **So it took me longer than I anticipated. :) However, let me know about this one.

**Queensly92:**She does, she does - or should I say, she will when she is turned. I have a few ideas I'm tossing around in my brain with regards to just what it is that she can do... haven't decided yet though. If you have any suggestions, let me know :D

**Maliumpkinss: **Thank you, I'll try not to be :D

**Becca Guest:**I totally agree with you. As a matter of fact, Demetri and Heather probably aren't going to get together for a while yet, as she's not too keen on falling for a vampire, and Jeff is still in the playbook - They're just going to be friends, until he has to up the ante and charm her. :D But thank you for the review, it made me very happy :D


	12. Author's Note

**Hello Everyone, I wanted to give you guys a little notice.**

**Unfortunately, I will not be continuing this story at this present time. Work and school have cut in far too deep, and I don't have the time to write much. Therefore, this story will no longer be updating, and is on Hiatus until further notice (if ever coming back at all). One of my friends who is interested in writing will be taking over my profile, but seeing as she is not as much of a 'Twilight' author as myself, she will not be writing them either. I'm sorry to tell you guys this when I am so happy that you like the stories, and have been looking forward to how everything progresses - but it is unavoidable. My degree and my hobby are far too diverse to really be able to continue this and get my work done.**

**Perhaps sometime in the future, I might be able to continue, but as for now its not possible. Again, I am very sorry. If any of you would like to continue the story on your own, you have my blessing. I can't update anyways, yet wouldn't want to hinder anyone if they wish to continue with the stories... **

**Thank you for your time, again I am deeply sorry to my reviewers who have been asking for updates. **

**Regards,**

**Olivia**


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